


éperdument

by trash_noir_claws_out



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-22 22:32:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6096098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trash_noir_claws_out/pseuds/trash_noir_claws_out
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the pieces are starting to fit together, as much as Marinette doesn't want them to fit.  As much as she desperately fights against seeing the signs, sometimes the cat refuses to stay in the bag.<br/>And sometimes the cat kwami refuses to stay out of her lunch bag.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mari, Alya, Nino and Adrien go to laser tag. Adrien is not a cat.

Alya and Nino had been skirting along the edge of friendship and something more since the beginning of the school year.  And, not gone unnoticed by their respective best friends, their seating arrangements in class had made for the perfect chance to constantly pass notes back and forth.  After the whole fiasco at the zoo, Nino and Alya were finally on the same page.  Not only did it bring them closer together, it formed a team to bring Marinette and Adrien together as well.   Plus, Alya enjoyed using Project Adrienette (yes, of course she’d made the two morons a ship name) as an excuse to drag Nino out on double dates. 

This brings us to today, fifteen minutes before class let out for the day, when Marinette heard the familiar sound of a Post-It note being folded into quarters.  Smirking to herself, she watched out of the corner of her eye as the DJ, eyes trained on Ms. Bustier, slipped a blue note into the waiting palm of the girl sitting behind him. 

Marinette couldn’t help but glance over at Alya’s movement, a pretend stretch that reached forward to covertly retrieve a Post-It.  Alya snuck Mari a wink and pulled her hands into her lap, quietly unfolding the note.  _“You, me, and the idiots - > arcade?  ;)_ _”_

Alya kicked the leg of Nino’s chair, twice for ‘yes’, hard enough for him to feel but gentle enough not to make the chair move and scrape, catching the teacher’s attention.  Marinette had to stifle the hysterical giggle that threatened to bubble past her lips when she law Nino do a victorious fist pump under the table.  She loved seeing this part of a relationship, when it was new and light-hearted and every little thing could make her heart skip a beat.  Marinette hoped that someday she and Adrien would be the same way.  The bell rang a moment later, and Nino was the first to spring up out of his seat.

“Dude, they finally opened that new wing of the arcade,” he said to Adrien, who was still gathering his notebooks into his bag.  “We _have_ to go check it out.”  Adrien checked his schedule on his phone, and was relieved to see he had no shoots planned for the day.

Alya held her tongue until Adrien agreed before butting into the conversation.  “Ooh, I’ve been wanting go since I saw the flyers!  I’m so in,” Alya said.  She turned toward Marinette and slung an arm around her shoulders.  “You’ll come too, right?  You’re much better at games than I am, girl.”

Marinette chortled at the compliment.  “At video games, not arcade games!  Besides, you know those things are rigged.”  She chided her friend, shaking her head at her complete lack of subtlety. 

“Oh, Adrien’s great at claw games,” Nino offered up, slinging an arm over his friend’s shoulders.  “Guess he’s just lucky!”

Adrien grinned and held up his wrist, where a red thread strung with colorful beads was wrapped.  “Well, I do have my lucky charm. It makes all the difference, y’know.”  He winked at Marinette, who turned a warm crimson.  She still couldn’t believe he’d kept her charm, much less started wearing it every day. 

“Besides, today’s adventure will not be spent on mere arcade games,” Nino declared as he led the group out into the hall and down the stairs.  “We’re gonna go a little more hard-core today.”  Alya giggled and pulled away from Marinette to link arms with her might-as-well-be-boyfriend.

“Um… what exactly counts as hardcore?” Mari squeaked as Adrien fell into an easy step beside her.   Nino and Alya didn’t reply, but instead both turned and shot the other pair a wicked grin over their shoulders.  Marinette looked up at Adrien, and they shared a small, worried smile, as they followed their friends blindly into hell.

* * *

 

 

And hell it was.  Adrien knew this was going to be an utter catastrophe as soon as he saw the neon sign over the black sheets covering the entrance to the new wing of the arcade. 

“Laser Tag”

He could practically hear Plagg howling with laughter from the secret pocket inside his shirt.  He glanced over at Marinette, and was surprised to see she looked excited.  _Really excited_ , he thought, judging by the cute little wiggle she was doing, shifting on her feet, while clutching her hands close to her chest and trying to bite back a smile.  Adrien mentally shook himself. _What are you doing, saying Marinette is cute?  You like Ladybug! LADYBUG!_

His train of thought was interrupted when he realized the others had already ducked under the sheet and into the darkened hallway leading to the arena.  He followed them inside and joined in putting his school bag into the lockers on one wall. Then the group turned to the opposite side of the hallway and retrieved black leather vests from hooks. 

An employee emerged from the arena, past another set of hanging sheets, to explain the premise of the game.  Small glowing orbs dotted the chest and back of the vests, different colored targets depending on their point values.  A small screen on the laser gun displayed the number of points you’d earned based on the orbs you shot with your laser.  At the end of a 15 minute session, a score board hanging over the vest hooks would announce the game’s winner. 

The kids were each handed a gun, cool and heavy in their hands, before being released into the arena.  The other three shot off into the dark maze of ramps and bunkers, scoping out the best hiding spots.  Adrien hesitated, wishing he had Chat’s night vision, before ducking under a walkway and into a small cubby. 

And there he waited, listening carefully for sounds of movement from the others, channeling his inner cat.  He sank to the floor and pressed a hand to the tiles, balancing on his toes and ready to spring out at the first sign of an approaching opponent. 

So when Marinette was able to sneak up on him from behind, he was floored.  Without a sound, she ducked into his space to shoot the little blue bulb on his shoulder blade point-blank, making the light cast startling shadows on the small cubby.  He whirled around to see she looked just as surprised as she felt, her azure eyes wide and her cheeks flushed.  With a tiny giggle, she dashed away, faster than he would have thought she could move, back into the darkness. 

That was when it all fell apart.  From somewhere above, someone held the trigger on their gun as they moved, making a small red dot sweep the floor below.  It caught Adrien’s eye instantly.  Gun forgotten in the cubby, Adrien silently stalked the dancing light, ducking and weaving over and between the ramps and crates of the makeshift battlefield.

A red light flashed next to his head- the bulb on his shoulder had been hit, but Adrien couldn’t find it in himself to care.  He needed that dot.  It was moving faster now, matching with the thudding footfalls of sneakers racing across the catwalk above, trying to escape the person following. 

Suddenly the dot stopped. “Gotcha now, sucker,” Alya’s triumphant taunt sounded from above, while a cornered Nino groaned in defeat.  A green light flashed- _straight for the heart, me-owch,_ thought Adrien dryly. But none of that mattered. That dot was his. 

With one last shift on the balls of his feet, an adjustment of his balance in his hips, he pounced, landing atop the dot with a victorious whoop.

“A-Adrien?”

For the second time in five minutes, Marinette had managed to spook him.  He tried to make an excuse about trying to find whose laser was left on, to ambush them.  But judging by Mari’s face, she’d seen more than just the capture of the dot.  She gave him a strained smile, shyness mixed with something else.  _She probably thinks I’m mental, great,_ Adrien thought. 

“Where’s your gun?” Marinette asked, suddenly noticing his lack of weapon.

“Oh, um… I think I dropped it back there when I started running toward Nino,” he fibbed, gesturing over his shoulder toward the cubby.

Mari giggled at him again, and his stomach swooped. _That’s not fair.  Wait, what’s not fair?_

“Well, I can’t shoot if you’re unarmed,” she decided, pulling her gun back against her chest.  “I’ll, uh, see you up there?  That is,” she ducked her head, looking up at him from under her lashes and giving him a coy smirk. “If you ever come out of hiding.”  And with that, she was off like a shot again, slipping silently back into shadow.  

The next ten minutes were a blur of flashing lights, pounding footfalls, and screeching laughter.  Nino learned his lesson about only pulling the trigger when he was ready to shoot, or else he’d give away his position.  Alya ruthlessly hunted him down regardless. Adrien managed to land a few shots, but missed often on account of squeezing his eyes shut against the little red dot whenever he went to shoot.

But when they made their way back to the lockers, the score board proclaimed Marinette the winner, with more points than the rest of them combined. 

“Damn, girl,” Nino laughed as he gave her a congratulatory high-five. “I barely even saw or heard you in there, you sneaky thing! Were you even walking around?  You could give Chat Noir a run for his money!”

“Nah,” Alya responded and hip-bumped her friend. “She was probably silently swinging around in the rafters using her yoyo, scoping us out!”  She and Nino laughed as they hung up their vests and gathered their bags.

Adrien held out a hand to take Mari’s vest, and hung it up for her.  She smiled gratefully at him, paused thoughtfully for a moment, and then winked.  She wasn’t letting that little scene with the laser chase go that easily.   Adrien blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. 

“Have fun in there?” Marinette asked, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Adrien said with a chuckle. He extended a closed fist to her, paired with a crooked, embarrassed grin.  “Good job!”

A strange look crossed Marinette’s face before she returned his smile, and his fist bump.  “Good job.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plagg ends up in Marinette's bag. Tikki screams internally. Marinette screams internally harder.

Marinette couldn’t believe that Alya had ditched her for lunch _again._ She understood the whole young-love-mushy-gushy-relationship thing, really.  But was it too much to give your best friend some love too?  She grumbled under her breath as she pulled her lunch bag out of her locker.  She had barely swung it shut before Adrien’s face filled her field of vision.

“Looks like you got left behind, too, huh?” the blond chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck and pulling his book bag a little higher on his shoulder. 

“Adrien!  Hi, um, hey,” she shuffled awkwardly, tucking her arms behind her back.  She wasn’t quite sure how to act around him after the whole laser thing.

“I’d stay and keep you company, but my dad doesn’t have anything scheduled during lunch today,” Adrien couldn’t keep a hopeful little smile from passing over his face. “And I was kind of hoping maybe he’d have lunch with me.  He’s always so busy, y’know?”

“Y-yeah,” Mari replied lamely, waving him goodbye as he headed down the front steps towards the waiting limo.  She sighed, mentally kicking herself for not seizing the opportunity to have a normal conversation with him.  Dejected, she started making her way toward a quiet corner of the courtyard where she could eat in peace… basically, as far away from Chloe and Sabrina as humanly possible.  She sat with her back to the rest of the courtyard, forming a shield so Tikki could come out and chat with her while they ate. 

She gently rested her lunch bag on a table under a tree and went to open it when Tikki came flying out of her purse and dove into the lunch bag.  Marinette laughed as she went to open the bag, but her kwami slapped her hand away.

“Gimme a minute,” the ladybug-looking creature demanded before disappearing into the bag. 

Marinette stared in shock at the now rustling lunch bag.  Tikki had never acted this way before.  Maybe she was just really hungry today and was in a bad mood?  _But we both had breakfast so why-_

The lunch bag fell over and out tumbled Tikki, who appeared to be in a heated wresting match with a purplish-black plushie.  Whisper-yelling went back and forth as the red kwami attempted to strangle the... whatever that thing was.  Marinette just watched, slack-jawed, as the black thing finally detached itself from Tikki and shot back into the bag, returning a few seconds later with the cheese-stuffed croissant Mari had brought as part of her lunch.

“Well, it’s not MY fault the idiot kid didn’t bring me any cheese today!  I’m starving here, Tikki!  Have a heart and share,” the black thing let out a whine, snuggling the cheesy pastry to his cheek. 

“How did you even get- you could’ve been _seen!_ How can we tell them to be careful when you-“

“Um… really sorry to interrupt but what’s going on?”  Marinette leaned over the table, staring wide-eyed at the little black cat who was nibbling the corner of her lunch while glaring at her kwami.

The cat opened his mouth, only to be silenced by a murderous look from Tikki.  “Absolutely _not,_ ” she warned, her tiny body quaking with rage.  This, however, only seemed to egg the cat on, a Cheshire-like grin splitting his face and his whiskers twitching with malice.

“I’m Plagg,” the creature said around a mouth full of cheese and pastry.  “I’m Chat Noir’s kwami.  I am also hungry because Chat Noir is an idiot who overslept this morning.”  He swallowed before floating up to Marinette’s eye level and giving her a once-over.  “I’d say it’s nice to meet you but I’m not too fond of lying,” he snickered. 

Tikki gave a livid roar and grabbed ahold of his tail, dragging him away from the teenage girl. “If you’re just going to be rude and snarky, you can leave, you mangy alley cat!  Go back to your Miraculous holder before he realizes you’ve snuck off!”

“Wait, when did you sneak into my bag?” Marinette asked, reaching out and pulling the cat kwami back to her.  Startled by the sudden contact, Plagg swatted her off, settling on the table with his lunch.

“When you and A-” a swift yank of the tail from Tikki cut him off.  “Ugh.  _Chat_ were talking earlier.  I smelled cheese and knew the dolt wasn’t gonna feed me any time soon, so I decided to jump ship and join you _lovely ladies_ for lunch,” he explained, sarcasm dripping from his voice. 

“Wait, so… Chat Noir goes here?  To Collège Françoise Dupont?”  Marinette blanched and gripped the edge of the table, suddenly dizzy.  Tikki dipped up to her shoulder, placing a supportive paw on her cheek.  “And I was _speaking_ to him.  I _know_ him?  Is he in my _class_?  Oh my god.”  The courtyard was spinning, and her knuckles were turning white from holding on to the table for dear life. 

“Funny how this whole fate thing works, isn’t it?”  Plagg drawled, polishing off the last of the croissant with a lick of his tiny fangs.  “But it’s not so surprising.  You know how it goes.  You two are made to circle each other, just like the sides of a yin yang.  You balance each other and-“

“What are you talking about?” Marinette cried.  She tried to take deep calming breathes, but couldn’t stop the trembling in her hands or the shadows creeping into her vision, the threat of fainting looming. 

Plagg cast a judgmental look toward Tikki.  “You didn’t tell her, did you?”

Tikki hung her head slightly, avoiding his gaze. “I just thought… it always seems to make them happier when they figure it all out for themselves.”

“The identities, yeah!  I can understand respecting their privacy but, Tikki,” Plagg scolded, concern edging into his voice.  “They need to know this destiny stuff!  It’s our job to tell them!” 

“Would someone _please_ tell me what’s going on?” Mari exclaimed, resting her head in her hands and squeezing her eyes shut, willing away the nausea and panic. 

The kwamis exchanged a long, tense look before Plagg floated up from his seat on the table.  “That’s for _her_ to discuss with you,” he said, glaring at Tikki before fluffing his whiskers.  “I already did _my_ job.” 

Tikki flinched at his verbal jab.  “Just go, you mangy cat,” she grumbled, refusing to meet his eyes again. 

The bell rang, echoing through the courtyard, signifying the end of the afternoon break.  Plagg’s ears twitched toward the school’s entrance.  “The idiot returns. That’s my cue.  See you soon, Tikki.”  Large green eyes flicked back to Marinette, who lifted her head to get one last look at the cat kwami.  “See ya, Ladybug.”  With one last smirk and a flick of his tail, he shot away, faster than her eyes could track. 

Ladybug.  He’d called her, Marinette, Ladybug.  Someone other than Tikki knew that she was Ladybug.

As soon as she’s returned to the classroom and deposited her bag (with Tikki inside), Marinette excused herself to the bathroom.  She wasn’t quite sure why, but as the locked herself in the stall in the corner, she began to cry.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the support! Yay for starting to get into actual plot! Also Plagg is my favorite thing ever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mari brings in snickerdoodles for Alya's birthday. Adrien doesn't know what a snickerdoodle is. #LetAdrienEat2k16

The next morning, Marinette woke up extra early to use the bakery kitchen before her parents started their busy day readying goods for the shop.  It was Alya’s birthday, and along with a custom-made Ladybug phone case to match her cell phone charm, Mari was surprising her with a fresh batch of cookies.  She had chosen to make snickerdoodles, as the sweet yet spicy combination of sugar and cinnamon reminded her of her friend’s caring yet sassy personality. 

As she carefully placed the last of the cookies from the baking sheet into a cake box, her kwami landed softly on her shoulder.  Things were still a little tense between the two after yesterday’s run-in with Plagg.  As soon as they’d gotten home the day before, Marinette had made Tikki explain what Plagg had been talking about.

Tikki had explained what she’d alluded to back when they battled the Pharaoh- that Tikki, and therefore Ladybug, had existed for millennia. But there was more to it than that.  Where there was a Ladybug, there was always a Chat Noir, eternally her partner and closest friend.  They were fated to always gravitate together; destiny would always have them meet.  So it was only natural that they would end up being close to each other in their civilian lives as well.

Sometimes they decided to reveal their identities to each other, and often times this led to close friendships- if not more- between the two in their civilian lives.  Other times they opted to keep things professional and remain as merely teammates.  But no matter what, destiny ensured that Ladybug and Chat Noir stuck together, balancing each other, two sides of a yin yang, for eternity.

So today, Marinette was feeling even more shaken up than the day before.  Not only did Chat Noir’s kwami know who she was in her civilian form, but Chat’s civilian form was waltzing around her school, possibly even her class, talking to her as Marinette.  And goodness knows whether the smart-mouthed kwami had told Chat who she really was, and if Chat was talking to her knowing full well she was Ladybug! And she might just be standing there like an idiot having no idea and-

“Marinette?  It’s going to be okay,” Tikki murmured from her place of Mari’s shoulder, recognizing that the girl was spiraling into a panic.

“I know,” Mari replied, gathering her bags and slipping out of the house.  “I just… how am I supposed to face him now?  He probably thinks it’s hilarious that I have no clue it’s him and-“

“Woah, Marinette!  Chat Noir doesn’t know you’re Ladybug,” Tikki interrupted.  “Plagg may be… frustrating, but he wouldn’t reveal your identity like that.  There are rules that we kwami follow, and one of them is to leave the choice of revealing the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir up to the Miraculous holders.  Plagg knows that.”

“So… Plagg won’t tell Chat who I am?” Marinette asked dubiously.  Tikki shook her head vigorously in response.  Marinette heaved a sigh of releif.  Maybe the cat kwami wasn’t so awful after all. 

* * *

Marinette felt much better as she walked up to the school, box of cookies still warm in her hands and a much happier kwami tucked snugly in her purse.  As she made her way towards the steps, an all-too-familiar limousine pulled up to the curb beside her, and her crush gracefully stepped out.  He smiled at the sight of his raven-haired classmate, quickening his pace to join her. 

“What up with the box?” Adrien inquired, falling into step by her side as they made their way toward the classroom.  “It’s from your parents’ bakery, so it’s got to be amazing.”

“I-I don’t know about that,” Marinette flushed, hugging the box a little closer.  “I made these ones, so… um, they’re probably not that great.  It's just some cookies for Alya's birthday."

"Does that mean I won't get to try one of these ‘Miraculous Marinette’ cookies?" Adrien asked, playfully as he gently bumped his elbow into Mari's shoulder.

"Oh!  I mean, um, if she doesn't mind sharing, then maybe over lunch... but um, you really don't have to, like, I said, I made them so they're probably-"

"Amazing," he supplied, the confidence in his voice suggesting that it wasn't up for argument. 

Alya and Nino spotted them from their seats on the front steps and walked over to join them.  Marinette’s shyness suddenly vanished as she embraced her best friend.

“Happy Birthday!” she squealed, squeezing the redhead with one arm while keeping the cookies out of harms way with the other. 

“Thanks, girlie,” Alya grinned, and glanced over Mari’s shoulder to see the blond-haired model, smiling affectionately at the hugging girls.  Alya extended one arm toward him.  “C’mon, Agreste, get in on this. You too, Nino.”

Marinette prayed Adrien couldn’t hear her heart pounding as he came up behind her, draping long arms around both her and her friend.  His cheek rested against her hair, and he let out a sigh of contentment that tickled her ear.  Marinette was grateful for Alya’s arm around her, or her legs would have surely given out on her.  Nino came up behind Alya and snaked his arms between the two girls, pulling Alya tight against him and earning a gentle head butt in the jaw from the blogger. 

Alya wormed her way out of the huddle and led the group toward the classroom.  “Okay, so I know Mari always smells good because of her house, but  _what_  is that awesome smell?”  Marinette held up the white bakery box before handing it over.  Alya popped it open and gasped with delight. “Snickerdoodles!  Seriously? Girl, I knew there was a reason I loved you!”

Adrien peered into the box.  “What's a snickerdoodle?”

Alya gaped at him as she slid into her seat.  “Wow.  Okay.  I keep forgetting how much we need to educate you.  Lunch, today, the four of us.  As the birthday girl, I demand it.”

  Naturally, nobody argued.

* * *

 

Chat Noir lounged atop one of his favorite rooftops, taking in the view of the Eiffel tower’s lights reflecting off the surface of the Seine.  Dinner had been dismal as usual- no one else at the long and lacquered table, just a lone place setting containing a strictly coordinated, model-diet-approved plate of sautéed veggies and very bland salmon.    It was made even more disappointing by comparison to that day’s lunch. 

The feeling of warm sunshine in the courtyard with Alya, Nino, and Marinette.  The taste of spicy sweet cookies that had practically melted in his mouth.  The sound of Nino sneezing after Alya brushed cinnamon powder on his nose.  The color of Marinette’s blush every time Adrien insisted that these were the best cookies he’d ever had.  As he watched the lights flicker and dance on the tide of the river, he tried to burn these things into his memory, to keep them forever. 

As he waited for Ladybug to arrive for their patrol, he let his thoughts wander to Marinette.  He was glad she finally seemed to be opening up to him.  They could even almost have actual conversations now.  After starting out on the wrong foot, resulting in months of tension-  _my fault,_  he thought glumly- things finally seemed to be turning around.

As much as he adored Ladybug, Marinette was the kind of girl he could see himself loving in “real life”.  Sweet, caring, creative, passionate, and brave, Adrien admired her for never giving up who she was while still managing to always make others happy, too.  Adrien hoped they would continue to grow closer.  Of course, he saw her fairly often outside of school, but that was only as Chat Noir, whom she had formed an affectionate and friendly bond with after working together against the Evillustrator a few months back.  But he wanted to get to know her, even love her, as Adrien too.

His thoughts were interrupted by the almost inaudible sound of spandex-clad feet landing softly on the rooftop behind him.  Without turning to face is partner, he smiled and leaned back on his hands.  “Good evening, my Lady,” he drawled, and felt the air stir as she came to stand beside him. 

“Evening, kitty,” Ladybug returned with a sigh as she sank down to sit.  The motion surprised Chat, as her arrival usually signaled it was time to jump up and head out on their patrol route. 

“You okay, bugaboo?  You sound tired.”

Ladybug responded with a noncommittal hum and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.  “It’s been a long day.  Fun, but long.”

Chat smiled and shifted to let her rest more fully against his side.   “Oh, yeah?  Anything special happen today?”

“Today is my friend’s birthday,” she murmured around a yawn.  “So I got up extra early to make part of her gift.”

“You’ve got a lucky friend there,” Cat chuckled and rested his cheek against the crown of his partner’s head, closing his eyes and letting a quiet purr rumble in the back of his throat.

His eyes snapped open again seconds later, however, when he realized her hair smelled just like sunshine and cinnamon sugar cookies. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta-bae, Robin, for making sure I don't sound like a moron.  
> Chapter four is practically done, so the wait for the next chapter should be pretty short. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat drops by Marinette's after patrol. Catnip toys for kitty. Drunk (high?) words are a sober man's thoughts.

Patrol that evening was cut short.  Ladybug declared that they were calling it a night after several attempts at scolding Chat Noir to get his head in the game.  But his mind was reeling.  Why did Ladybug smell like Marinette’s cookies?  As Ladybug, annoyed and exhausted, went to make her exit, Chat called her back and finally garnered up the courage to ask her about it.

“My lady, pardon me for my asking, but a cat’s nose never lies… what is that delectable smell surrounding you today?” He questioned with a smooth drawl and a smile.

A panicked look crossed Ladybug’s face; her heart had jumped up into her throat.  After a moment, she let a grin of faked lightheartedness cross her face.  “Oh, you remember my friend, Marinette?”  He did, indeed.  “Well, I stopped by to see her this morning and she was baking cookies, so I stuck around to help out until she had to leave for school.”

“Ah, I forgot my lady was friends with the baker’s daughter.  It’s been so long since I’ve seen her.”  _Lie._   “Well, if the taste is anything like the smell of these cookies, perhaps I’ll have to pay Marinette a visit myself.”

And so he did.

* * *

 

Chat’s biweekly visits had become routine for Marinette.  She would rush home after a patrol, barely having enough time to slip into pajamas before her partner would rap on the trap door from her balcony.  It had started shortly after the Evillustrator incident- Marinette still couldn’t understand why Chat had garnered so much interest in her civilian form, yet she appreciated the company.

Today, Marinette was in a particular rush.  After watching Chat Noir scamper away in the direction of her house, Ladybug had to take an alternate route home, praying she would beat him there.  She de-transformed mid-air as she leapt through her skylight, and only had enough time to collapse on her lounge with a random fashion magazine to look casual before familiar green eyes were peering through the glass pane in her ceiling. 

Smirking to herself and sparing a glance toward her desk to watch Tikki flit into her book bag to hide, she let the cat in and they immediately fell into their usual banter and easy chatter.  His visits let Marinette learn a different side of Chat Noir than the showy, flirty persona he put on for Ladybug. 

She learned he didn’t mind letting Ladybug take the spotlight with the public, as he always felt scrutinized enough in his civilian life.  She learned about his self-doubt, and how he felt he had to compensate for his inability to purify akumas.  She learned about his cold and empty house, his father, and how he wanted Chat to stay in the family business.

“So what _do_ you want to do, kitty?” she asked him.  She allowed him to steal another sip from her mug of hot cocoa as he sat on the floor in front of her chaise lounge, his shoulder learning against her leg dangling off the side. 

He paused for a long time before smiling to himself.  “I think I’d make a good cook, or maybe even a baker like your folks.  I like cooking, even if I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like.”  He chuckled darkly.  “My dad doesn’t really appreciate me getting dirty in the kitchen.  Thinks it’s below me or something.”  Marinette giggled at the thought of Chat covered in flour.  “But I think I’d like making food.  Especially if there were always people to share it with.”

“Oh, kitten,” Marinette sighed, sitting up and leaning forward to stroke his hair.  His ear fluttered when her fingers brushed against it, and she giggled again.

“You love that, don’t you,” Chat said in a jokingly accusatory tone.  He passed the mug of cocoa back to her, and she set it on the end table in favor of continuing to play with his ears.

“You know I do,” she responded, trailing her fingertips over the velveteen triangles.  Sometimes, they almost even felt warm to her.  “They remind me that you’re actually part cat… not just some weirdo who likes to run around in a leather cat suit.”

He rolled onto his hip so he could turn and playfully glare at her.  “Hey, don’t diss the suit.  You know you love that too.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, but blushed and cracked a grin. “It does give a pretty nice view,” she admitted slyly, her voice dropping to a murmur.

Chat rose up onto his knees, leaning closer to the raven-haired girl.  He draped his arms across her lap, offering his bicep.  “Wanna touch, Princess?  It feels almost as good as it looks,” he quipped with a smirk.

“Almost,” Marinette laughed, smoothing her fingers along his arm, coming to rest on his shoulder.  Her blue eyes flicked up to meet his and she realized how close he was.  “It’s rough like leather, but smooth like armor.  What’s it made of?”  She knew the answer, of course.  The kwamis made for a suit as tough as steel, slick as Teflon and flexible as spandex.  Her fingers brushed over the honeycomb scales that ran through the armor, marveling at how they gave Chat’s suit a leathery texture look, while they made her suit more shiny and scaly, like a beetle’s shell. 

“Boyfriend material,” Chat replied, which earned him a shove in the shoulder. 

“Silly kitty.  Oh!  That reminds me,” she said, standing suddenly and crossing to her desk.  She was grateful to get away, to break the flirtatious mood that had been building.  _Keep it together, Marinette.  You like Adrien, remember?_

She reached into a small paper bag, and what she revealed made Chat’s heart leap.  A bright green mouse toy, with a feathery tail and a little bell on its neck.  Chat could feel his pupils blow wide as she wiggled it between her fingers.  “I saw this the other day and it made me realize, I have no idea if you like catnip or not.”

“Catni- ooh,” Chat trailed off, because he did, in fact, like catnip.  But the affect it had on him… “I have to warn you, Princess,” he said, half joking, half nervous.  “I cannot be held accountable for my charming ways should you subject me to that… wonderful… amazing…” he trailed off as Marinette swung the toy back and forth by the tail, his eyes following it’s every move. 

Mari giggled before tossing it over the chaise lounge, where an excited cat reached up a claw to grab it out of the air.  He batted it between his hands a few times before pressing his nose into the fuzzy fabric, breathing deep.  A wide, giddy grin slid onto his face, and he peered over the mass of feathers and faux fur at Marinette.  _Thank you,_ he said with his eyes, warm and gooey and pupils blown wide with bliss. 

She wandered back to her seat, curling up against the back of the chaise to watch her kitty rub the herbal toy on his face, laughing when he sputtered out feathers that “accidentally” found their way into his mouth.  She loved these moments, when she could, in her own way, love him back.  He needed it, she knew.  She just had to be ever vigilant not to let him get to her head.  _I’m only a replacement for Ladybug_ , she reminded herself, a little sadly. 

After several minutes of enjoying his catnip mouse, his eyes turned to the raven-haired girl again, this time more mellowed and soft.  Abandoning the toy, he climbed up the cushions to settle himself in her lap.  Purring, he pressed the crown of his head against her neck, sliding up to nuzzle the underside of her jaw.  She giggled, placing a noisy smooch to his hair.  The little voice in the back of her mind chastised her for it, but he was hard to resist when he was so kitten-like. 

He wrapped his arms around her waist and entwined his legs with hers, and, feeling daring and swimmy and so _good_ , he nipped gently at her neck.  A love bite, a tiny mark, not enough to be there in the morning, but for now, for tonight, mine, mine, _mine._

Marinette let out a surprised squeak, quickly disentangling herself from him and standing.  Her cheeks were crimson and he’d never seen her look so beautiful.  Her heart twisted a little, because any more and she’d start to think that he wanted _her_ , and not… well, Ladybug.  “Woah there, kitten, let’s keep the kitty kisses for your mouse and your Ladybug, okay?” 

Chat reached out and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her back to him.  His other hand held her waist, guiding her to sit on his lap, facing him.  “Princess,” he breathed, his eyes flickering from her eyes to her lips.  “I want to kiss _you_.”  It came out like a plea, and it broke Marinette’s heart.

“No.  No, no.  I can’t.  You can’t.”  She attempted to pull away, but his other hand flew to her waist to hold her still.  “You’re on catnip.  And you have Ladybug.  And I have-“

“Ladybug doesn’t care about me.”

“What?”  Her heart dropped to her stomach.

“She doesn’t.  Everyone thinks we’re together but…” Chat paused, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat and his brows furrowing together over darkening eyes.  “I’m just her goofy sidekick.  She doesn’t take me seriously.”

“Chat,” Marinette sighed, giving up her fight to escape and relaxing into his touch.  “Of _course_ she cares about you.  You’re the yang to her yin.  You’re her other half, you silly kitty.”

Chat stayed silent, his eyes refusing to meet hers.  “Maybe,” he said finally, thickly, as if trying to speak around a sob lodged in his throat.  “Maybe I just want a different kind of other half than she does.”

Marinette knew it was stupid of her.  She loved Adrien, and this was _Chat_.  But that was just it.  This was Chat, her partner, her other half (whatever that meant in this context).  She trusted him completely, knew his body and mind and spirit better than she maybe even knew herself.  And, she realized as she took his face in her hands and lifted it to force him to look at her, that he knew her.  More than she liked to admit. 

Which is why she ignored the logical little voice in the back of her head, screaming “ _abort, abort, bad idea!”_ Which is why, when she let her lips ghost against his in the softest butterfly of a kiss, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.  “Maybe that’s what you deserve, kitty.”

He responded by kissing her back, still so gentle, as if he could shatter her heart through her lips.  His hands tightened slightly on her hips, reassuring him that this was real, Marinette was real.  He pulled away, keeping his eyes closed, pressing his forehead to hers, and sighing into the space between them.

Marinette’s hands reached back up to stroke his ears, and Chat let a low purr rumble up through his chest.  He could tell she was smiling by the energy around him, and let himself smile too as he felt her pepper soft kisses across his cheek.  “Who could resist such a sweet stray kitten?” she whispered, her lips brushing the juncture between his jaw and neck. 

Chat’s purr grew to a deep rumble, his hands sliding up to her waist and pulling her flush against him, chest to chest.  “I wouldn’t say I’m a stray,” he murmured, letting his head fall to her shoulder and running his hands up and down the small of her back.  “I’m feeling pretty at home right here.”

Marinette gently took his face into her hands again, angling his head back up so she could properly kiss a line from his jawline to where his suit covered his neck.  Chat’s head fell back, his purrs now coming whether he willed them or not.  His lips parted and his eyes closed.  He couldn’t tell what was making his head feel so floaty- the catnip still coursing through his system or the fact that his usually sweet, flustered, adorable classmate was pressing smoldering, open-mouthed kisses to his throat.  Slowly, with torturous intent, he raked the tips of his claws up her thighs. 

Marinette pulled her lips away and sighed against his collarbone, wrapping her arms around his neck and staying there, letting herself breathe and come back down from her own non-catnip-induced high.   Chat’s arms wrapped around her, no longer fiery and passionate, but still warm and strong and safe.   His palms pressed flat against her back, pulling her closer, heartbeat to heartbeat.  She breathed him in while her emotions- and her hormones- got back under control.  “ _You’re an idiot,”_ the little voice said. 

Marinette hated to agree with him, but Chat was right. Even though she still loved Adrien, he was a beautiful stranger.  She adored Chat, and like he said, being together felt like home.  So when Chat kissed her goodnight one last time, she slipped the toy mouse into his clawed hand, willing him to take that simple joy back to a house with no hominess in it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my favorite chapter so far. I just love me some kitten cuddles, you guys. Make sure you're following me on trash-noir-claws-out.tumblr.com. Art from this chapter will be up soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mari and Adrien discuss the heroes during lunch with Alya and Nino. Adrien accidentally gets a little too assertive- Chat's ears ARE functional, thank you very much. Good thing Marinette is there to back him up.

Adrien’s alarm blared on the nightstand, quickly silenced by a hand slapping down on the snooze button.  The blond scrubbed his other hand over his face, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  He turned his head and was momentarily confused by the two forms on the pillow next to his.  The darker mass he recognized as his kwami, incredibly still asleep despite the noisy alarm clock. 

His face broke into a silly grin as his brain caught up to his eyes, and he lifted the small, fuzzy, green cat toy to snuggle it briefly to his cheek.  It still smelled like her.  As he dressed for the day, he considered keeping it tucked in his pocket, but figured Plagg wouldn’t appreciate the company.  Besides, he already had a lucky charm from his princess that he could carry with him, he thought with a smile at the beads on his wrist. 

He picked at breakfast- plain oatmeal and a banana- and swiped the cheese from the small dish of fruit and cheese into his book bag for Plagg.  Nathalie poked her head into the dining hall to inform him that his father would be too busy for dinner- _why does she insist on telling me?  It’s pretty much a daily occurrence that he’s too busy-_ before leaving again to ensure the Gorilla had the limo ready. 

As soon as the car pulled up to the school, Adrien was off, calling a farewell to his driver over his shoulder and making a beeline for his best friend.  Nino was perched on the wall near the steps, blowing bubbles into the face and hair of his squealing girlfriend.  Next to her, giggling and swatting away stray bubbles, was Marinette.  Adrien felt his heart give a happy squeeze, and he quickened his pace. 

He snuck up behind Marinette, reached out in front of her with one hand and caught a bubble on the tip of his finger.  The girl tensed, sucking in a breath and holding it as he gently deposited the bubble onto the tip of her nose.  He ducked his head to murmur a soft “good morning, Marinette” into her ear before straightening and stepping from behind her to greet the others.  He smiled back at her and took in the pretty pink blush that covered her face.

As the group made their way toward class, Alya linked her arm with Nino, pouting as he brushed bubble soap from her hair.    Adrien half-jokingly offered his arm to Marinette, copying the pair walking ahead of them.  His heart skipped a beat as the still-blushing girl gave a tiny smile and slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow, interlocking their arms.  Feeling a bit bolder, he pulled his arm back towards himself, in turn tucking Marinette closer to his side.  They walked like that until just outside their classroom, when Chloe shoved in between them, loudly and affectionately greeted Adrien, and gave Marinette a cold glare.  The mayor’s daughter swished to her seat, followed closely by her timid “best friend”.  Adrien smiled apologetically at Marinette before sliding into his own seat.

He was glad that Mari seemed so at ease with him today.  She still seemed a little nervous, but he was sure that if he kept showing her how much he wanted to be closer to her, that she would come around.  As class dragged by, he couldn’t help but try to listen in on the girlish whispers coming from the row behind him.  Alya congratulating Mari on something, Mari questioning “what does it mean?” in a frantic hiss.  He tried to pay attention to what Madam Bustier was saying about the poem she was discussing, but his thoughts kept being drawn back to the girl behind him, and to the night before. 

His mind wandered back to his comment about not feeling like a stray in her house.  That night, when he’d leapt back through his bedroom window, he took in the gaping cavernous suite that was his bedroom.  As he shed his transformation and readied himself for bed, he realized how much more at home he felt curled up on Marinette’s couch than in his own bed.  Being by her side had a calming effect on him.  Usually he felt like a cat in a cage, on display, never free to roam, pacing and waiting for permission.  But with Mari, it was like his soul could stretch and play like a kitten.  A kitten that spent last night sleeping with his new favorite toy next to him. 

Adrien leaned back in his chair, anything to be a few inches closer to the designer.  The bell for lunch startled him from his daydreaming.  He practically jumped out of his seat and spun to grin up at the girls, eagerly requesting that they all have lunch together again today.  Marinette turned scarlet and stuttered something under her breath, Nino looked somewhat pleasantly surprised, and Alya, nudging Marinette in the ribs, responded with an equally enthusiastic yes. 

 

* * *

 

The group claimed a table in the courtyard, and Adrien immediately slid into the seat across from Marinette. _Easier to look at you, my dear,_ he thought playfully, and couldn’t help but imagine how cute Marinette would look in a red hood.  Or red in general, for that matter.  Such a bold color would probably look amazing on her.  It already did, as the blush still hadn’t left her face.  She seemed to be making a serious effort to look everywhere but his direction. Adrien reached across the tabletop and gently touched her hand.  “Are you OK, Mari?  You’re not upset with me, are you?”

“NO!” Marinette practically screamed, jolting upright, wide, panicked blue eyes finally meeting his green ones.  “No.  A-absolutely not.  Sorry. Just tired.  Really. Tired,” she stammered, her voice leveling back down to a normal volume. 

“I feel ya, girl,” Alya said, obviously trying to defuse the tension the raven-haired girl was feeling.  “People were submitting some great pictures of LB and Chat on patrol last night.  I was up super late editing them.  Did you see them in this morning’s Ladyblog post?”

Adrien nodded.  “That was a great shot of them sitting leaning on each other.  They’ve got such a great relationship.” He grinned at Alya, who winked back at him.

“Just wish we knew the extent of that relationship,” she replied.  “I mean, most of the time it seems pretty professional, but I think that’s mostly Ladybug’s doing, y’know?  Chat seems like he definitely wants more.”  Adrien nodded wholeheartedly, Nino hummed approvingly as he sipped his energy drink, and Marinette stared at a strawberry in her fruit salad.  “I mean, did you guys see the way it looked like his ears sagged when she ran off on him after that last akuma fight?”

Nino chuckled.  “Now you’re just seeing what you wanna see, babe,” he said.  “Those ears are just leather or whatever the rest of his suit is made of.  They can’t be real.”

“They _are_ real,” Adrien asserted a little too aggressively, the words automatically flying out of his mouth.  Now it was his turn to blush as the rest of the group turned to stare at him.  “Uh… I mean…”

“No way, man,” Nino scoffed and shook his head.  “Can’t be.”

“Why not?” Marinette piped up, looking somewhat affronted.  “His tail is made of a leather belt, but it moves on its own like a real tail does.”

“Seriously?” Alya exclaimed.  “I’ve never noticed!  I’ll have to go back and re-watch footage.  That is so cool!  Maybe I should do a compilation video about it!  Would people like that?”  Adrien nodded again, and Alya practically glowed with excitement over the scoop.  “Wow, Mari.  I never realized you watched him closely enough to notice something like that!” She elbowed her best friend playfully, causing Marinette to blush and swat her away with her fork.  The grape that had been speared onto the end went flying, narrowly missing Alya’s bottle of tea.

“I-it’s not like that,” she insisted, glancing nervously at Adrien, who couldn’t help the warm gooey feeling in his chest.  “I-I just notice stuff like that… as a designer, y’know?  Clothes.  It’s an interesting part of his costume’s design, so I just… noticed, is all.”  She sentence died off at the end, her gaze locked with Adrien’s.  He continued smiling at her fondly, and she shifted nervously I her seat.  Adrien resisted the urge to reach forward for her hand again.  She didn’t even know she was covering for him- both sides of him.  Making him feel like less of an idiot as Adrien, and standing up for him as Chat, all in one fell swoop.  This girl was amazing. 

Alya settled back into chattering about doing an “ear-and-tail appreciation video” for the Ladyblog, and once in a while Marinette interjected to suggest a particular gif or clip from the blog when Chat Noir’s functional suit features had been visible.  Nino smiled and rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone and showing Adrien a new app he’d just downloaded- a Japanese game which involved giving food and toys to random cats that came to your yard- which he downloaded onto his own phone immediately.  The first cat to visit his app was a black cat with bright eyes named Pepper, who came to play with a pink ball of yarn.  He renamed it Marinette, thinking that of course she would go for yarn and in her favorite color no less.

When Adrien looked up from his phone, Marinette was staring at him.  When he met her gaze she flushed and quickly looked away, but dared another look a few seconds later when Adrien still hadn’t averted his eyes.  He gave her a small smile, silently thanking her, and she smiled back timidly.  Making sure the other two were distracted in talk of video editing and Nino making an audio track for the project, Adrien showed his phone screen to Marinette, lit up with the black cat’s profile. She giggled, and Adrien tapped back to the yard to show the cat playing with the yarn.  An orange tabby cat was now next to her, lounging on a green cushion.

Marinette bit her lip thoughtfully, then tentatively reach out and took the phone.  After a few taps to the screen, she handed it back.  Adrien gave her a curious smile before clicking on the cat.  She had named it Adrien.  His face split into a goofy grin.  “That looks like fun,” he mused aloud, smiling at the two pixelated cats.  “Hanging out while you work on your designs.”

“You should!  Um… come over, I mean.  T-to hang out.  If you want,” Marinette stammered.  Adrien quickly agreed, and made plans to go over after school that day.  Going over Marinette’s house, as Adrien!  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled so big.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHhhh WE'RE HALFWAY THERE~! WOOOHHH LIVIN ON A PRAYER that people are still reading this.   
> So as of right now, this thingamajig is planned out for 10 chapters. And chapter 6 is actually already done and sent of to the baeta, so that'll be out soon too. :D  
> We're finally getting into the reveal stuff, and even I'm getting excited. Hope you guys are too. Thanks for sticking around! Don't forget to leave a comment about what a giant dork Adrien is, and bookmark if you want more of these idiots in the near future. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug lets slip that she met Plagg at lunch. Because nothing keeps an identity safer than letting the cat out of the bag. Literally.

Marinette’s head was reeling.  How was this even happening?  This couldn’t actually be happening.  There was more of a chance of Hawkmoth revealing himself to her and Chat while wearing a tutu and a clown nose than ADRIEN FREAKING AGRESTE walking side by side with her to her house to hang out after school.

But that was exactly what was happening, and Marinette was amazed she was functioning enough to keep her feet moving in a straight line down the sidewalk.  Especially when her crush was walking close enough to brush his hand against hers every few steps.  Maybe she was imagining it, but each time it happened, she would jump slightly and  Adrien would glance her way, give her an encouraging smile, and  move a hair closer.  She swallowed hard and tried to take deep, calming breathes.  The boy could probably hear her heart hammering out of her chest. 

They didn’t make conversation until they finally reached the bakery.  They had beaten the after-school crowd, so it was quiet.  Unfortunately for Marinette, this meant that her parents had plenty of time to greet Adrien.

“It’s so good to finally meet you, Adrien,” Sabine said with a gentle smile and a warm hug.  “Marinette talks about you all the time.”

Adrien wanted to burst into tears and melt into her embrace.  It had been too long since his last hug, much less a maternal one, but Sabine’s words distracted him.  “She does?” he managed to respond, returning the hug.

“A little too much, in my opinion,” Tom grumbled, but smiled and shook Adrien’s hand while giving him a good-natured pat on the shoulder.

“Oh, stop it, you,” Sabine scolded her husband affectionately.  “You’re so protective.”

“Maman, Papa, please,” Marinette groaned, tugging nervously at a pigtail and knawing her lip, a look of utter mortification on her face. 

Tom and Sabine laughed and ushered the two toward the stairs up to the main part of the house.  “You two go on upstairs,” Sabine encouraged.  “We’ll make you kids some snacks and bring them up.”  Marinette groaned in embarrassment again, insisting that snacks- or the parental interruption- wouldn’t be necessary, but Adrien thanked the bakers profusely.  Sabine asked his favorite type of cookie, to which Adrien responded he was very fond of snickerdoodles. 

As they reached the 1st floor landing at the base of the stairs to Marinette’s room, the girl suddenly let out a strangled squeak and stopped dead in her tracks.  “Sorry, can you w-wait here for a sec?  My room’s really m-messy.  Let me just straighten up a tiny bit and then I’ll let you in, okay?”  Adrien nodded, and Marinette darted up the second flight of stairs into her room, trying to squeeze inside while opening the door as little as possible.  Once inside, Tikki swooped out of her bag and flitted over to her desk.

 “Want me to start taking down photos while you change your computer wallpaper?” the kwami asked, knowingly as she pulled the first magazine clipping off the wall.

“You’re a life-saver, Tikki,” Marinette whispered her thanks and quickly set her desktop background to the Agreste Fashion House’s model lineup from Milan fashion week.  Then she helped her kwami carefully but swiftly take down various photos of Adrien and tucked them into her desk drawer.  After giving the room one more once over for incriminating evidence and giving Tikki time to hide up in the loft, she opened the door and let the blonde boy up into her space. 

Adrien smiled as he took in the room.  “Wow, Marinette, it’s so pink and bright and… you.”  He pretended to take extra time to look around as if he hadn’t been there the night before, snuggled up to the room’s owner.  He wandered to the desk and noted the half-finished fashion designs strewn over its surface.   “These are amazing.  I can’t wait to see you work your magic in real life!”  As his eyes grazed over the endless sketches, a small plastic bag caught his eye- the packaging from the catnip mouse.  He picked it up, careful not to inhale the enticing scent from the herbs leftover in the bag.  “I didn’t know you had a cat, Mari,” he commented innocently, holding up the baggy for her to see.

“That’s! Um…” Marinette dashed forward to take the packaging and clutched it to her chest before tossing it into the rubbish bin next to the desk.  “There’s a, um, a stray cat.  He comes by my balcony some nights, so I got him a toy.  I figure…” her expression softened from panicked to something akin to sadness mixed with affection. “I don’t think he’s too happy.  He belongs to someone else in the neighborhood, I think, so he’s not really a stray, but… he seems pretty lonely, wandering around at night, and I don’t think his family gives him enough love.  So I thought maybe it would cheer him up, if he had a toy.”  Marinette finally met his eyes, and blushed.  “Sorry!  I’m babbling about some random cat and you’re probably bored-”

“No!  I think that’s really cool of you,” Adrien confessed, settling into her chaise lounge as the girl began pulling fabrics for one of the designs she’d finished.  “So are you thinking of adopting him?”

Marinette laughed and passed him the sketch of the design she was working on- a white lightweight blazer with a silk pink inner lining and red trim.  “I can’t very well steal him away from his current family, much as I’d like to.  But at least I can treat him the way he deserves when he stops by, right?”

“He should stop by more often then,” Adrien responded, a twinkle in his eye.

Mari laughed again, laying the white fabric on the floor and pinning the pattern down.  “I think so too.  But that’s really up to him.  When’s the last time a cat did what they were told? Can’t force him to show up.”  She was relieved that the conversation seemed to be flowing, and that her stammering and stuttering seemed to have stopped for the moment.  Talking to him like this actually felt kind of… natural.    

“Well, he’d be a fool not to.  Speaking of which,” Adrien pulled out his phone and checked on his app.  A red cat with black spots had shown up in the yard, and he promptly named it Ladybug.  He showed the screen to Marinette, and she giggled.

Over the next couple hours, Marinette made steady headway on the jacket while Adrien watched from the chaise.  They talked about school, Adrien’s life as a model, Marinette’s dreams as a designer, and Paris’ superhero team.  They had settled into a comfortable companionship, Marinette’s timidity and tension melting away in the warmth of Adrien’s company.  Marinette’s parents brought up a plate of freshly baked snickerdoodle cookies, and the pair ate and talked and laughed.  Adrien felt blessed to have DuPain-Cheng cookies two days in a row. 

That is, until their phones simultaneously went off with a Ladyblog alert that an akuma calling itself Le Chocolaterror, a disgruntled chocolatier, was wreaking havoc down by the Théâtre du Châtelet.  Adrien immediately gathered his things.  “I’d better get home,” he explained apologetically.  “My father always insists I’m home where I’m safe during akuma attacks.”  Marinette didn’t argue and hastily bid him farewell, telling him to text her and let her know that he got home safe.  As soon as he ducked through the trap door, Marinette scrambled up the ladder to the loft and out onto her balcony, calling for Tikki to transform her.

If only she’d looked down, she’d have seen Chat Noir leaping out of her 1st floor living room window. 

* * *

 

It had taken them no time at all to free the akuma contained in the chef’s tempering spatula.  As the white butterfly fluttered off into the twilight, Ladybug surprised Chat by motioning for him to follow her and dashing up onto a nearby rooftop.  It was rare for them to spend any time together after apprehending an akuma, but since neither of them had been forced to use their power, their miraculous weren’t in danger of running out, giving them an uncommon opportunity. 

Chat Noir joined Ladybug, who was seated on the edge, legs dangling off the side of the roof, looking out over the river while she caught her breath.  “Good job as always, my Lady,” Chat drawled as he sat beside her.  “Glad that didn’t turn into a full on _melt-down_.  Would’ve made for a pretty _sticky_ situation.” 

Ladybug rolled her eyes, but laughed anyway.  “Good job, yourself.”  She paused to take a deep calming breath, and suddenly stiffened.  “Now _you_ smell like Marinette’s cookies.  You really went to see her last night, huh?”

Chat hesitated before nodding, careful not to give away that the smell was actually from that day, not the night before.  He opened his mouth to make a punny comment, but his words failed him.  His stomach twisted.  Why did he feel so guilty?  Ladybug knew Marinette and he were friendly after the Evillustator situation.  So why was this silence so awkward?  Why wasn’t Ladybug saying anything?

“I spoke to Marinette today,” Ladybug finally spoke up, her words drawn out and full of hesitation.

Chat’s heart fluttered a bit at the sound of the girl’s name, but he quickly caught himself.  How much had Mari told her?  Crap.  Would Ladybug think he was insincere because he’d kissed Mari? “Y-yeah?”

“She told me something that’s really been bugging me…”

Shit.

“No pun intended,” Ladybug caught herself, and Chat’s face contorted into a guilty half smile.

“What’s up?” Chat asked, unable to look at her.  He kept his gaze locked on a point across the Seine, where the waters garbled the reflected image of the Pont Neuf. 

Ladybug turned toward him suddenly, her body stiff and angry.  She reached over and grabbed his hand, forcefully pulling him to look her way, drawing them closer.  “She said you think of yourself as my sidekick… and one that I’m dismissive towards at that.  Is that true, Chat?” 

Chat finally let his eyes meet hers, and he was startled by the fire he saw there.  She was really upset with him.  She held his gaze steadily, and he thought that the color blue had never burned so hot.  He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off, holding his face between her two hands, pulling him closer.  Chat couldn’t help but remember Marinette holding him much the same way just a few hours before. 

“Because you are not, never have been, and never will be my sidekick,” she spat, as if the very word tasted bitter on her tongue.  “You are my partner.  I care about you, and I need you, and I… and…” her voice cracked, and she took his hand again and clutched it to her heart, her eyes welling with tears because she _needed_ him to understand this. 

But she caught herself.  If she wasn’t careful, she could fall right into his embrace like she had as Marinette.  He was sneaky that way.  So she loosened her vice grip on his hand and scooted closer to him, leaning against his side, suddenly exhausted.  She stiffened when she felt him move to drape his arm around her, but he thought better of it, tucking his arm behind him to lean back on it. 

“I’m sorry.  I should have known better than to think that.”

“No. You should know _me_ better than to think that.  That I would ever feel that way about you, you dumb cat,” she grumbled.

Chat couldn’t stop the dry, humorless laugh that escaped his lips.  “We don’t really know each other though, do we?”  He regretted the barbed comment instantly. She sat up, moving away from him.  “My Lady, I didn’t-”

“No, it’s fine. You’re right.  It’s not like we’ve ever met as our real selves.  I don’t know anything beyond the cat.  Hell, I only met your little kitty kwami for the first time at lunch the other day, and-”

“You met Plagg?” Chat leapt to his feet, staring down in wide-eyed shock at the petite heroine.  “And… at lunch… but… what were you doing at my school?  Do you go to my school?  Oh my god,” he paced the rooftop, running his clawed hands through his hair as he attempted to process the information streaking through his mind. 

Ladybug dropped her head back and groaned. Fuck.  How could she let that slip?  She was such an idiot.  All that talk about how she wanted to keep their true identities a secret and she basically blurts out that she’s right by him, day and night. 

“And, and, and,” Chat babbled, a huge grin splitting his face, “that means Plagg knows you.  He knows who you are- he didn’t tell me!  I have to make him tell me.  He-”

“Chat, please,” Ladybug implored, reaching out to grab his ankle to stop his excited pacing.  “Don’t take this as an opportunity to look for me.  Just… be more careful with your kwami, alright?  Keep him close, and keep him secret.”

Chat instantly deflated, settling back down to sit beside his lady again.  “You’re right.  Okay.  I’m sorry.  I forgot that you’re not as _fur-vent_ on revealing ourselves as I am.”  He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she playfully shoved him in the shin in response to his horrible pun, causing him to teeter and plop down next to her again. He grinned good-naturedly as she bid him farewell and used her yo-yo to zip off into the dusk, and he watched her go.  He stood and made for home himself, silently vowing to strangle his kwami, starve him of cheese until he fessed up, and in the meantime, give the class roster a very close second look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want all of you to know that my beta left "That's What She Said" jokes in the edits of this chapter. She also told me that Chocolaterror was the worst pun she'd ever seen. I also want all of you to know that my beta is a punk bitch. :) Sod off, Robin, I'm funny. (P.S. Thanks for dealing with my horrendous spelling errors ily)
> 
> If you're liking this story, please bookmark it! Please also leave me comments about what a hot mess Marinette is. <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is handed a golden opportunity, and gladly takes it. In which Alya is, as always, the world's best wingman.

 

“I have to change schools,” Marinette groaned melodramatically into her pillows as an exasperated kwami sat on her head.  “He’s going to figure me out it no time!  Ughhhh, my life is over!”  The girl rolled over, almost crushing the kwami between her head and her pillow.  Tikki clambered back up to perch atop her chosen’s forehead.  “And then I’m going to end up being outed to the entire class and Alya will hate me for lying to her and Chloe will start hating Ladybug and tormenting me even more and I’ll get in so much trouble from my teachers for skipping class to fight akumas because now they’ll know I’m not in the bathroom for all that time.”

“I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself here, Marinette,” Tikki tried to console the girl, but was suddenly catapulted halfway across the room as Marinette bolted upright in bed.

“Oh my gosh,” Marinette gasped and scrubbed her hands over her face. “Oh, no no no no.  My teachers will totally tell my parents!  And then I’ll be grounded and they’ll never let me leave the house again and what if there’s an akuma attack and Chat has to fight it all alone.  But Chat can’t purify akumas  so the person would just get akumatized all over again and he would keep trying to defeat it and his Miraculous would run out and he would de-transform in a middle of a fight and of course Alya will be there recording the entire thing and she’ll post his true identity to her blog and he’ll be outed too and he’ll hate me forever for it!  But none of that would really matter because Hawk Moth would win and I don’t know, probably destroy all of Paris!”

“Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed, flitting back over to the bed, holding her head from her dizzying flight.  “Have a little faith in Chat Noir!  Even if he figures out who you are, do you really think he would tell anyone?”

Marinette paused, chest still heaving from her outburst.  Her brow furrowed as she contemplated her partner.  “I guess you’re right.  He’s pretty good when I tell him I don’t want to reveal our identities to each other.”

“Exactly!  He cares about you way too much to risk the consequences of you being discovered.  If anyone will keep your identity a secret, it’s sure to be Chat Noir!”  The kwami gave Marinette’s cheek a quick snuggle before swooping away again.  “Now come on!  You’re going to regret it in the morning if you don’t get some sleep!” 

* * *

 

Tikki had been right.  If not for the little red creature tugging her pigtails the next morning, Marinette would have happily snoozed straight through her alarm and well into the day.  After dashing around in a mad rush to get dressed, she tripped down the stairs, received a quick kiss and a box of fresh croissants from Sabine, and stumbled out the door.  If she walked quickly, she could still spend a few minutes with her friends before they had to go to class. 

At that, her thoughts turned to Adrien.  Of course, now that she was finally opening up to Chat Noir, Adrien had to go and be all extra cute and adorable and attentive towards her.  Luck could be so ironic.  He had always been kind to her, but what was with the sudden special attention to her?  Maybe he was feeling lonely because Nino and Alya finally got together? 

Marinette was brought back to reality by an arm slinging over her shoulders and the box of pastries being plucked from her hands.  “Oh Marinette, for me?  You shouldn’t have!”  Alya gave her friend a squeeze before popping open the box and stealing a croissant.  “Ohmygosh, they’re amazing,” she gushed through a mouth full of food.  “I love your parents so much.  Tell them to adopt me?”

“Same here,” Nino quipped, helping himself to a croissant as well.  He held it over his mouth, the points facing upward in a doughy smile, and snapped a selfie before digging in.  “Though, that would make me and Alya siblings… that’d be weird.”  Alya grimaced and nodded.

For a second time that morning, Marinette felt an arm rest around her shoulders, pulling her close to its owner.  “Your parents seemed to like me well enough,” Adrien mused, taking a pastry from the box.  “They probably wouldn’t be against having me as a son-in-law, right?”

Marinette felt all of the air rush out of her lungs, and her heart jumped to her throat.  He had _not_ actually just said that.  She was 95% certain she’d died and gone to heaven.  She was still dreaming.  This was not real life. 

“Aren’t you supposed to date someone before you propose to them, Agreste?” Alya teased and shot a wink toward Marinette, who had turned a deep scarlet and was having trouble remembering how to breathe. 

Adrien looked thoughtful, then enlightened, and finally turned to grin down at Marinette.  “I wouldn’t be opposed to that, either.”  He gave her shoulders a squeeze and took a bite of his croissant.  Alya gasped with delight, and Marinette thought her legs might have given out if not for the blond boy holding her against him. 

“Well, if you guys are going to get married, you’ll have to do the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing,” Alya said.  “You’ve already met her folks, but I’m sure Mari would _love_ to meet the _famous_ Gabriel Agreste.”

Marinette started.  Actually meeting Gabriel Agreste face-to-face?  At Adrien’s house?  As Adrien’s girlfriend?  She was definitely dreaming.  Bless Alya for being the best wingman in the universe.  Marinette made a mental note to make her something amazing as a thank-you.  Mariette looked up at Adrien, unable to keep the hopeful look off of her face.

Adrien smiled back warmly.  “I’m sure he’d really like you, Marinette,” he assured her.  “He already knows how talented you are from the design competition.”

Marinette opened her mouth to respond, but couldn’t seem to remember how to breathe, much less speak, so instead she settled for enthusiastic, borderline manic, nodding. 

“So it’s settled,” Alya declared, licking the last of the buttery taste from her fingertips and leading the group toward their classroom.  “The new power couple goes to meet Gabriel, and when the whole meet-the-parents thing is out of the way, Nino and I will crash the party.  I’ve always wanted to see this crazy room of yours.”

“It’s insane,” Nino assured her.  “Like, there’s a skateboard ramp- dude, do you even skate? Didn’t think so.  And he’s got a custom Dance Dance Rebellion machine… Oh!  And a bear!”

“I do not have a bear, Nino,” Adrien groaned, and Marinette got the feeling this wasn’t the first discussion the boys had had about this hypothetical pet. 

“Then how come there’s a hazard sign with a bear on it on that door you’ve never let me open?”

“Because it’s my closet and I don’t want people in there.”

“Because that’s where you hide your bear.”

“No, because the absurd amount of clothes in there is embarrassing.”

“Ooookay, sure.  Doesn’t explain the bear sign.”

Marinette couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out, and Adrien gave her a sheepish grin and a shrug.  “So… would you like to come over after school?  No bears, I promise… unless you count my driver.”

“I thought his name was Gorilla.”

“Nobody’s _name_ is Gorilla, Nino, oh my god.”

“ANYWAY!” Adrien interrupted the couple, and turned again toward Marinette.  “So… after school, then?”

Marinette nodded again, and let Adrien guide her into the classroom, still tucked securely under his arm. This time, when Chloe’s angry footfalls pounded up from behind them, Adrien pulled her in closer, swiftly out of the girl’s way.  This didn’t stop her from shoving past Marinette’s shoulder with a low, feral growl as she stormed toward her seat.

Marinette slid into her chair, amazed that her legs hadn’t turned to liquid before that moment.  Under the desk, Alya grabbed her knee and shook her leg excitedly.  Marinette didn’t miss that her other hand was reached forward toward her boyfriend, covertly accepting a wadded-up twenty euro note.

* * *

The class seemed to drag on forever, and Marinette couldn’t sit still.  She had stopped bouncing her leg under the table after the third time Alya had nudged her with her foot.  She’d fiddled with her pigtails until the ribbons fell out, and she’d had to excuse herself to the bathroom to retie them.  Adrien’s stare as she hurried past his desk toward the door had made her ears turn pink and her cheeks burn. 

Now she was running out of options as she completed the intricate line of marching ladybugs around the border of her notebook page on her tablet.  She considered trying to twirl her stylus around her finger, but thought better of it when she remembered how clumsy she was, and figured the pen would end up hitting someone in the head- most likely herself or the boy in front of her.  Luckily, the bell signaling lunch rang just in time to keep her from considering any other bad ideas.  Marinette eagerly gathered up her things and went to rise from her seat, only to look up and find Chloe looming over her, fuming. 

“Alright, Trashinette, want to tell me why you’ve been slobbering all over my Adrikins these past few days?”  Chloe crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.  “Don’t think the rest of the world hasn’t noticed you clinging to him like a desperate, pathetic little peon.”

“Chloe!” In an instant, Adrien was between the two girls, shielding Marinette from his childhood friend’s wrath.  “Back off.”

“Oh!  Oh, my sweet little Adrikins,” Chloe cooed, running a hand up his arm.  “I always told you, you’re too nice for your own good!  And if you’re too nice to people like _that_ ,” she jerked her head toward Marinette, “they’ll just end up taking advantage of your kindness.  Adri-honey, you know I’m just trying to keep you from getting hurt.”

“The only one being hurtful here is you,” Adrien huffed, reaching behind him and blindly fumbling until he found Marinette’s hand. 

Chloe’s facial expression suddenly darkened, and her over-the-top display turned quiet and angry.  “What are you doing, Adrien?”

“Going home.  I’m taking my girlfriend to meet my father,” he replied, equally as intense.

“What…” Chloe’s scowl broke, and she started to laugh.  It began as a low chortle and grew until it was a loud, mean cackle that made everyone else in the room turn and stare.  “What a joke!  Please, tell me you are not actually dating this clingy, clumsy, worthless little bi-”

“I am not worthless!”  Marinette’s patience finally gave out, and she ducked under Adrien’s arm to face Chloe head on.  “Yeah, I can be clumsy!  But I’m doing the best I can!  I try to be honest, and nice, and to make the people around me happy!  Which is more than can be said about a mean, cheating, selfish girl like you!”  Outburst done, Marinette tucked herself back under Adrien’s arm, her chest heaving.  “And yes, I’m dating Adrien.  Unlike some people here, Adrien isn’t a liar.”

With that, Marinette led her new boyfriend out of the stunned, silent room, wondering if she had imagined his slight flinch at her last words. 

* * *

 

“Seriously, why is there a bear sign?” Marinette laughed as she sat on Adrien’s white leather couch.  Gabriel had been on an important phone call when they’d arrived, so Nathalie had directed them to Adrien’s room with the promise she’d let the designer know Adrien had a guest he wanted his father to meet.  She then, much to Marinette’s embarrassment, softly scolded Adrien for bringing a guest over unannounced. 

“You know, until Nino brought it up, I’d never really thought about it,” Adrien said and handed her a bottle of sparkling strawberry-flavored water. “It’s just what the interior designer chose.  Kind of like the skate ramps I never use.”

“And the Dance Dance Rebellion machine?” Marinette giggled.

“Oh, no, that was totally my choice,” Adrien confessed with a grin.  “And I’m pretty good at it too, if I do say so myself.”

Marinette gave him a wicked grin.  “Careful, now, last time you bragged about something like that, I seem to remember you got your butt kicked pretty hard at Mecha Strike 3.”

Adrien laughed and made a grand, sweeping gesture toward the machine.  “Then be my guest, Princess, try and beat my high score.”

Marinette’s eyes  widened at the familiar nickname… if she hadn’t watch the words come out of his mouth, she would have sworn they were said by…

Shaking herself out of the thought- and what an impossible thought, too- she made her way confidently over to the machine and selected her favorite song from the playlist, one of the most difficult dances in the game.  As she scrolled through the list, she couldn’t help but notice that Adrien had downloaded every single expansion pack.  She shot him a smile over her shoulder, informed him he was a giant dork, and got in position to start the game.

She did pretty well, in her opinion.  Her feet flew through the steps with ease, muscle memory kicking in from long hours of playing the game with Nino after school in the arcade last year.  By the time she finished the final run of moves, she was sure her score would top the list on his machine.  She looked back at him with a smug smile as she listened to the point roller tally up her final score.  Adrien simply gave her a matching expression, wiggling his eyebrows and jutting his chin out, directing her to give the screen another look.

Marinette turned back and gasped- how was that even possible?!  Not only was the current high score more than double her own, she didn’t even make the top five list!

“It’s all about the combos, Princess,” came a satisfied drawl from behind her.  Marinette’s blood froze.  Okay, that time he really, _really_ sounded like a certain pain-in-the-butt cat. 

At that moment, a quick rap at the door announced Gabriel’s arrival.  Without waiting for his son’s approval, he strode into the room, stopped by the side table next to the couch to move Adrien’s drink onto a coaster, and straightened to look at Marinette. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he said with a pleasant, but stern look.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.  I very much enjoyed your work in the derby hat competition.   Your signature on the piece, especially, I found to be a very creative way to display the brand name without being intrusive to the work.  Well done.”

“Thank you, sir,” Marinette replied, stepping off of the DDR machine to shake the designer’s hand.  “Your praise means a lot to me.”

Gabriel gave a hum of approval.  Adrien cleared his throat, catching his father’s attention. “Father, I hope you share my desire to see Marinette more often.”

“I do,” Gabrielle said, giving Marinette a small smile and a nod.  “I think her passion and work ethic would be a good influence on you.”

“That’s great,” Adrien gave a sigh of relief and grinned at Marinette over his father’s shoulder, “because as of this morning, Marinette is my girlfriend.”

Gabriel was silent for several long seconds before finally nodding again.  “Yes, I think it’s a smart match.  A designer and a model, very fitting.  Much like your mother and I.” Gabriel turned back to Marinette.  “I hope to be seeing you around our home more often, then, Miss Dupain-Cheng.”  And with that, he left just as suddenly as he’d come in. 

Adrien shut the door behind him before collapsing into his desk chair.  “That… went so much better than I expected.”  He spun around in the chair, a gleeful grin on his face.  “And he wants you to come over more often!  That’s amazing!  This has never happened before!”

“You’re going to make yourself dizzy, you dork,” Marinette grabbed the back of the chair to slow his spinning.  “I’m heading out, I told Maman I’d be home for dinner.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Adrien said, giving her a warm smile that made her knees feel all gooey again.  He stood up to give her a quick, but tight, hug, and handed her her bag, which he’d put on his desk when they’d arrived.

Marinette let herself out, glancing back to give him one last smile.  Later, she wished she’d never looked back.  Maybe if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have seen the green fuzzy mouse sitting on the desk where her bag had been. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long to get to you guys. Soooomeone (my lovely, amazing, pain-in-my-ass beta) took her sweet time. But! Chapter 8 is written and being edited, and chapter 9 is halfway done, so hopefully there will be plenty of new content up soon. And then we're up to chapter 10... the finale! Thanks to everyone who's rode this out with me. <3 And of course, thank you to Robin, who edits and gives helpful feedback, such as "smooth af", "savage"and "Fuck yourself, [Trash-Noir]".


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plagg bugs Mari for cheese again when Adrien forgets to bring Plagg's lunch to school. Mari decides to return the kwami to his holder herself.

Marinette couldn’t say why she’d felt the need to sprint all the way home like a maniac, or why she’d ducked under her father’s outstretched arms and dashed upstairs to her room, slamming and locking the door behind her.  And even now, as a frantically worried kwami flitted above her head, she couldn’t explain why she was collapsed on her chaise lounge, sobbing her heart out.  After a few minutes, her mind suddenly flashed back to Chat Noir’s last visit and their time spent on the chaise, and Marinette flung herself off of it and instead curled into a ball on the floor beside it. 

The room grew dark as the sun set, and Tikki flicked on the lights to keep away the gloom.  Sabine tried to bring dinner up to her daughter, and was startled to find the door locked.  She tried to talk to Marinette through the door, but only received a snappy reply that she wasn’t hungry and wanted to be left alone. 

It wasn’t until well after Tom and Sabine could be heard closing up shop and going to bed that Marinette finally sat up and turned to look blearily at her kwami.  Tikki gave a sympathetic smile and floated over to brush strands of blueish-black hair from the girl’s face.

“I have to admit, Marinette, I’m a little confused about why you’re so upset,” the bug-like kwami mused, settling onto Marinette’s knee.  “I thought you’d be happy about Adrien being your Chat Noir.”

“He’s not… no.  Chat Noir isn’t my Adrien.  He can’t be.  It’s impossible.  Adrien is elegant and kind and smart and a gentleman and Chat is goofy and weird and… not Adrien.”

“That’s true, I suppose,” Tikki mused before her smile turned playful and teasing, “but Ladybug is elegant and Marinette is goofy.” 

Marinette looked a bit wounded at first, but a look of realization quickly crossed her face.  “You think his personality changes that much when he transforms?” she balked.

“Doesn’t yours?” Tikki countered.

“But that’s different,” Marinette insisted.  “I’m still me, just… braver.”

“Maybe that’s how Adrien is, too,” Tikki said gently.  “Maybe how he acts at school is different than how he really is inside.  Maybe Chat Noir is closer to the real Adrien.”

“He did act a lot more formal in front of his dad today,” Marinette murmured, wiping at the itchy trails of tears that had long-since dried on her cheeks.  “So maybe… everything I thought I liked about him is a lie.”  The girl seemed to deflate slightly, curling in on herself again.

Tikki sighed and swooped up to tug on Marinette’s pigtail.  “I think you’re missing my point, Marinette,” she urged.  “I’m not saying ‘Adrien’ is fake.  I’m saying that the true Adrien is made up of both ‘Adrien’ and ‘Chat Noir’.  Chat Noir still has Adrien’s best qualities- his kindness, his cleverness- but he’s unhindered, free.  I think both Adrien and Chat are made up of pieces of the real Adrien.  The question is,” the kwami positioned herself squarely in front of Marinette’s face, forcing the girl to look at her, “are you willing to accept both sides of him?”

Marinette’s brow furrowed slightly before her face melted into a soft smile.  “Stupid cat.  Doesn’t he know I already love all of him?”

“Probably not,” Tikki shrugged, finally seeming satisfied and flying off to help herself to her secret cookie stash in Marinette’s desk.  “Now the next question is, are _you_ willing to let _him_ love all of _you_?”

Marinette blanched, groaned, and flopped back into her curled-up position on the floor.

* * *

 

Marinette hadn’t gotten to seep until just before the sun had started to peek above the horizon, and it showed in every slow, heavy blink of her eyes and every dragging, begrudging footstep.  Once again, it had taken Tikki yanking on her pigtails to rouse her from her bed, with additional nagging to get her dressed and out the door.  _At least it’s Friday,_ she thought with a yawn as she shuffled up the steps and into the school.

When she got to the classroom, Adrien was already there, proudly showing Nino how one of the cats in his app had given him a gift.  Nino was shaking his head and trying to show him an app on his own phone.

“Look, this one is like playing songs on a piano, right?  And you get points depending on how accurate you are.  You play piano, man, you should love this!” Nino was reasoning, demonstrating by swiftly taping his fingers over the screen in a fancy flurry of practiced movements, resulting in the opening bars of a song Marinette had heard on the radio a few days before. 

“But… this one has cats,” Adrien countered with a mock-pout, tapping on one of the cats to open a gallery of various pictures he had taken of it sleeping, playing with a toy, and using a scratching post. 

Realization hit Marinette like a brick, and she let out a strangled hiss of air.  Another obvious sign she’d missed.  Of course Adrien had a thing for cats!

Her sigh made the boys look up from their phones, and Adrien broke into a wide grin.  “Hey, Marinette!”  He rose from his seat and stepped down to give her a hug.  “Good morning!”  Marinette hugged him back, and as soon as she wrapped her arms around him she recognized the familiarity of the thin but muscular frame.  She pulled away from him with a tight-lipped smile, but still couldn’t stop herself from blushing when he gave her a warm, adoring smile in return. 

She took her seat beside Alya as Ms. Mandeleiev swept into the room and announced they’d be discussing the small meteor shower set to occur that evening.  As the teacher launched into a lecture on gravitation pulls relative to mass, Marinette found herself trying and failing to stare at the back of her friend’s  **-** _boyfriend’s_ , she corrected herself – head.  If someone were to come along and ruffle his perfectly styled hair, would it stick out all soft and fluffy like Chat Noir’s?  All of those fencing lessons probably helped him to be light on his feet in a fight.  Did he keep his kwami hidden in his bag like she did? If he-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a gentle kick under the table from her seatmate.  Marinette glanced over at Alya, who pointedly shifted her eyes toward the teacher.  Ms. Mandeleiev was look impatiently in her direction. 

“Sorry, can you repeat the question?” Marinette asked bashfully, trying to ignore Chloé and Sabrina snickering. 

“I was just asking the class where the best place in the city to watch tonight’s meteor shower would be, and since you looked so thoughtful I assumed you might like to share your input?”

“The top of the Eiffel Tower,” Marinette responded without thinking, and immediately flushed when she realized how absurd her answer must sound.  The class gave a coactive chortle.

“Well yes, I suppose one with superhuman abilities would opt for such a spot above all the light pollution of the city,” Ms. Mandeleiev chuckled.  “But for the rest of us, a quiet rooftop or park away from streetlights would work best.”

Marinette twisted a stand of her hair, willing the redness to stop creeping over her face.  Why did her mind have to automatically go to her and Chat Noir’s favorite spot?  Alya noticed her embarrassment, and rubbing her friend’s back in comforting circles.   Marinette gave a small smile of appreciation and, determinedly flicking to a fresh page of her tablet’s notebook app, resolved to focus on the lecture instead of her boyfriend… and partner. 

* * *

 

Alya had dashed off as soon as classes broke for lunch, yelling something over her shoulder about getting an interview for the Ladyblog with the latest akuma victim.  Marinette wandered off on her own to find a quiet corner where she could try and get her head to stop spinning.  She settled down at a back table in the library, which was empty save for Max, who was engrossed in his handheld gaming console, with sound-canceling headphones pressed firmly over his ears to keep him focused. 

Marinette gave a sigh before unpacking the day’s lunch- a miniature Quiche Lorraine, and apples and chocolate-honey dip for dessert.  She pulled her bag up onto the table with the opening facing her, letting Tikki poke out and keep her company while still keeping the kwami concealed from anyone else in the room.  She broke off a piece of flaky pie crust and handed in to the ladybug-looking creature, and was just about to take a bite for herself when a black blur catapulted onto the table.

“Ladybug,” drawled a familiar nasal voice.  Acid green eyes and large black ears were focused on her, though tiny paws were already reaching toward her lunch. 

Marinette deftly dragged the quiche out of his grasp.  “Plagg.  Can I help you?”

“What?” he asked with feigned innocence.  “A cat can’t fly by and say hello to his lovely partners?”

“What do you want, Plagg?” Tikki deadpanned, flitting between the black cat and her Miraculous holder. 

“My holder forgot my lunch again,” the black kwami lamented dramatically.  “And oh… that smells so deliciously cheesy…” his voice trailed off as he made his best puppy-dog eyes at Marinette. 

Marinette was about to tell him to find his own lunch, when her mind so graciously reminded her just who this miraculous holder Plagg mentioned was.  Adrien.  Her Adrien was Plagg’s holder.  Her stomach clenched and she squirmed in her seat, begrudgingly pushing the quiche toward the cat.  “Help yourself.  I’m not hungry.”

“Marinette,” Tikki cried out in annoyance.  “Don’t encourage him!”

“Really, Tikki, it’s okay.  I don’t have much of an appetite anyway.”

Plagg eyed her suspiciously from over the edge of the pie crust.  “What’s the matter with you?  Is Ladybug having a not-so-lucky day?”  He took a huge bite of quiche, strings of melted cheese hanging from his fangs. 

“It’s been a rough night.  Not that it’s any of your business, and anyway, I doubt you care,” Tikki answered sympathetically but curtly, obviously not eager to discuss the topic.  She came out of Marinette’s bag just enough to place a reassuring paw on her holder’s hand. 

“True,” the cat kwami hummed.  “Let’s talk about something else.  Talking about this silly, sappy crisscross lovey-dovey stuff will spoil the taste of my delicious cheese.”

“Thanks for being so understanding,” Marinette grumbled, lowering her head onto her folded arms resting on the table.  “So where is your holder anyway?”

“Playing basketball with his friend in the gym, last I saw.”  Marinette must have pulled another face at the realization that Chat Noir was just meters away at that very moment, which Plagg misread as disgust.  “I know,” he continued.  “Why would you choose to move around so much when you could just relax and eat?”  With that, he tossed the last chunk of quiche into the air, opened his mouth wide, and down it fell in one swallow. 

Marinette pushed her chair back from the table and drew her knees up to her chest, hugging herself into a ball and burying her face in her knees.  Tikki swooped into the crook of her neck and nuzzled there, trying to comfort the girl. 

Plagg scoffed and started to lick any cheesy remnants from his paws.  “Seriously, LB, what’s your problem?  Your moping is making my whiskers wilt over here.”

“Plagg, if you don’t have anything important to say, why don’t you just go back to Chat Noir?” Tikki snapped.  A rustling noise made her squeak and dart back into Marinette’s bag.  Max must have been frustrated with a part of his game, because he shifted agitatedly onto the edge of his seat and pulled the screen closer to his face to maximize his focus. 

Marinette kept an eye on him for a moment longer to make sure he was fully absorbed in his game, before turning her attention back to the small creatures.  “You know what, Tikki?  I think Plagg going back to Chat Noir is a fantastic idea.”  A look of mixed annoyance and motivation made her eyebrows furrow and her lips purse. 

“What?”  That got the cat’s full attention.

With that, she made a grab for the black cat kwami and stuffed him into her bag, zipped it shut, and tossed it gracelessly onto her shoulder.  Muffled exclamations of “Hey!” and “Ouch! Marinette!” came from inside the jostled pack, but it didn’t slow Marinette down as she made her way out of the library.  She tried to keep a quick pace as she stomped toward the gym, determined not to lose her courage.

* * *

 

Looking back, dramatically flinging both doors of the gymnasium open and scaring the daylights out of the boys may not have been the best decision.  Especially considering it startled Adrien so much that his friendly pass turned into violently flinging the basketball at Nino’s face.  And looking back, Marinette probably looked like a madwoman, slightly out of breath, shaking slightly from nerves and adrenaline, face probably blazing bright red just from the sight of her crush.  Partner.  Crush.  Shit.

“Hey, Marinette,” Nino greeted her as she made her way over.  He pinched his nose before checking his fingers for blood, blinking furiously as his eyes watered.  “You okay?  You seem kind of upset-“

“I need to talk to Adrien.  Alone. Please.”  She kept her eyes fixed on the floor, not trusting herself to look either of her friends in the eye without losing her resolve. 

Nino seemed pleasantly surprised, and with a cheery “see you in class!” he whipped out his phone ( _probably to call Alya and tell her how stupid I’m being right now,_ Marinette thought) and practically jogged out of the room. 

Marinette didn’t turn around to watch him leave.  She stood in front of Adrien, frozen in place, trembling, lips pressed into a hard line and trying desperately not to cry.  Why did she feel like crying?  She knew this would happen eventually, just… not with Adrien.

“Marinette, are you okay?  Nino’s right, you look upset.  What’s going on?”  Adrien took a step toward her, reaching out to put his hands on her shoulders. Marinette took a step back to keep the distance.

“I have something that belongs to you,” she managed to work out, still not daring to look at him.

“Really?”  Adrien quickly patted himself down, and Marinette watched him through her lashed as he checked himself: wallet, check; phone, check… ring, check.  She squeezed her eyes shut and took three deep, rattling breaths in a useless attempt to give herself one last boost of bravery.

Reaching toward her hip, she pulled her bag to her front and opened it, reaching in and being careful to scoop up the correct kwami.  Slowly, she raised her gaze to meet Adrien’s and held Plagg out to him.  For once, the black cat creature stayed silent.

“This is yours… isn’t it?”

Ah, Marinette knew that face.  She saw it whenever things were looking dire in a fight, and Cataclysm didn’t do the trick.  She saw it when Chat cried out her name, warning her of incoming danger that he couldn’t get to her in time to block her from.  She saw it when his Miraculous beeped its final warning in the middle of a fight, and he needed to go and she needed him to stay. 

And here it was, that look, sans the black mask.  Here it was on the face of her Adrien, who had yet to respond, had yet to move.

Plagg sat, ears flattened against his head, in her hands.  Marinette gave him a gentle nudge with the heel of her palm and he reluctantly floated over to the boy, hesitating before settling in on his holder’s shoulder.  Adrien flinched at the touch. 

“I feel so stupid… I should have seen it.  It’s like now that I know it’s you, I’m seeing all these signs that I should have noticed-“

“Does anyone else know?” Adrien’s voice was cold, terrified.

“What?  No!  I- I would never tell!”  Marinette’s mind was reeling.  Why did he look like he was about to cry?  It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

“Shoot.  Marinette, I… I’m so sorry.  I never meant to lie to you guys about this, I just… how could I tell you?” Adrien started pacing, clutching the hair at his temples.  “I wasn’t… you’re not supposed to know.  Ladybug says we can’t let anyone know, it’s not safe… oh, God, you’re not safe.  You haven’t been akumatized yet, and now I’ve made you a target.  God, Marinette,” he stopped walking and looked up at her, eyes brimming with tears.  “I am so, so sorry.” 

“Adrien, wait, it’s-”

“And now,” the pacing continued, and Marinette watched him spiral apart.  “You and I, we were finally… you were finally talking to me, and we were friends, and more than friends, and now you know I’ve been lying to you and I’m this weirdo who runs around battling butterflies while wearing cat ears and-”

“Adrien!  Stop, stop,” Marinette rushed to him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.  “It’s okay.  I’m okay, we’re okay.  I’m not going anywhere, okay?  And hey, look at me.  I’m okay.  See?  No butterflies coming to get me.  I’m right here.”

Adrien’s eyes searched hers frantically, searching for signs of akumization, before finally returning the embrace.  “You’re here.  You’re okay.”

“We’re okay,” she assured him.  “I mean, I always knew you were weird,” she teased, punctuating with a squeeze, “but trust me, it takes more than superhero business to scare me off.”

“How did you know, though?  I mean, how long have you…”

“Just since last night.  I, uh… I saw the mouse on your desk…” Marinette trailed off, turning crimson at the memory of Chat’s last visit.   

“Oh.  _Oh_ ,” Adrien flushed and pulled away slightly, scratching the back of his head nervously.  “Um, well, I…” he cleared his throat and something familiar sparked in his eye, and his expression morphed into timid shyness mixed with Chat Noir’s flirty confidence.  “I guess that means you kind of have a type, don’t you, Princess?”

Marinette tried her best to look angry, but her lips quirked up in a badly-resisted smile and her cheeks flamed.  “Silly kitty,” she grumbled, before tangling her hands in the front of his shirt and dragging him down into a kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaaaaat, a chapter ending on a fluffy, happy note? Yeah, you guys deserve it after all the angst I've put you through. We're almost done, guys! Just two more chapters to go. :) Then my poor baeta can finally rest, haha.  
> Speaking of that bitch who I adore with all my cold, shriveled, blackened heart, here are some noteworthy comments she left me on this chapter during editing (AKA Praise for éperdument):  
> "Thank you for keeping the angst short you are a national hero"  
> "I retract my previous statement about short angst. Suck a dick."  
> "I literally hate you"  
> "You’re a cunt"


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette wants to leave the reveal one-sided... at least for now. But when Chat Noir asks for Ladybug's blessing, all bets may be off.

The rest of the school day seemed to drag by, and Adrien couldn’t seem to focus on anything that was being discussed in class.  His mood kept sinking and soaring- one minute he was all aglow and blushing thinking about the amazingly understanding girl sitting behind him and how lucky- for once- that he was to have her supporting him. 

The next moment he was consumed by nauseating guilt- he still hadn’t had a chance to see Ladybug and tell her about his new significant other, and that she would finally be free of his futile advances.  Would she be relieved?  Happy, even?  _She’s friends with Marinette,_ he reminded himself, _so maybe she already knows.  She’ll probably be equally as happy for us as she is glad to be rid of my flirting._

Nino had noticed early on in the second class session that the chances of Adrien paying attention and taking notes were slim to none.  He’d attempted multiple pokes and prods, questioning looks, and non-so-indiscreet coughs trying to encourage his friend to at least turn the pages of his e-book in time with the rest of the class.  With a final sigh of defeat, he at least got Adrien to acknowledge that Nino had emailed him his set of notes at the end of class. 

When the bell finally rang, he turned around to talk to Marinette only to find she wasn’t there.

“She slipped off to the bathroom ten minutes into class and hasn’t been back since,” Alya informed him, shaking her head.  “This happens all the time; I guess I’ll be sending her my notes again.”

“Oh, good, I’m not the only one sharing,” Nino said tartly, shooting Adrien a playful glare. 

Adrien left the two to bemoan the constant disappearing acts their best friends were constantly pulling- both physical and mental- and wandered out into the hall to find Marinette, hoping to catch a few moments alone with her before the other students started pouring out of the classrooms.  He found her leaning against a row of lockers, her back to him, talking softly into her hands.  _She must have gotten an important phone call,_ he mused.  Ever the mischievous cat, he began to quietly creep up behind her for a hug-attack.    

“So it’s decided then.  Things seem okay for now, so if he doesn’t ask, I’m not going to tell him,” Marinette was murmuring.

“Tell me what?”  Adrien inquired, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her back against him, while the other hand covered her mouth to stifle the scream he correctly guessed would follow. 

What he didn’t correctly guess was that his petite girlfriend would also reach back, grab his arm and flip him over her shoulder, leaving him flat on his back on the floor with the wind knocked out of him.

“Adrien!  I am _so sorry_!  But how- what were you thinking?!  I could have really hurt you!”  She fussed over him, checking for injuries before hauling him back to his feet with surprising ease. 

His coughs turned to laughter and he reached out for another hug- a successful one, this time.  “You never told me you knew martial arts!  Remind me to never get on your bad side!”

“I don’t have a bad side,” she pouted, hugging him back.

Adrien pulled back to see her face, but hesitated in confusion.  “Hey, where’s your phone?  Did you drop it when I scared you?”  His eyes swept the floor around them, searching for her cell.

“What?”

“When I came up behind you, you were talking on your phone, weren’t you?”

“Um… no!  I was… just musing to myself,” she replied with a nervous giggle. 

“So, what did you not want to tell me?”  Adrien gave her a playful smile that looked too Cheshire-like on his face without a black mask to accompany it. 

“It’s nothing,” Marinette insisted, nervously adjusting the strap of her bag, eyes glancing at the lights, the floor, anywhere but Adrien’s eyes. 

“Marinette,” Adrien urged, his grin morphing into a look of genuine concern.  “If something’s going on, please tell me. Don’t shut me out.  After everything that’s happened, I… I want this… _us…_ to be based on trust.  No more secrets.  Please?”

Marinette bit her lower lip, conflicted.  Wouldn’t it be easier if they both finally knew?  It’s not like he’d be upset… heck, he’d probably be thrilled.  Maybe.  But what if he was disappointed?  He idolized Ladybug, as both Adrien and Chat.  And he seemed to like Marinette well enough, as both Adrien and Chat, but… did he like her enough to be willing to bridge that gap?  She doubted it.

Adrien watched his girlfriend’s face flicker between nervous, to indecisive, to tired and perhaps a little sad.   He reached out again, placing a comforting hand on her arm.  “Hey,” he murmured with a small smile.  “If you’re not ready then take as much time as you need.  I won’t force anything out of you that you don’t feel comfortable telling me.  But I hope you will.  I mean,” he shifted bashfully on the balls of his feet, raising his free hand to scratch at the back of his neck.  “I hope you trust me enough to know you can tell me anything.  Okay?”

Marinette made a small, strangled sound, but nodded.  Adrien gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before making his way to the waiting limo idling out front.

* * *

 

Adrien lay spread-eagle on his bed, glaring at the LED clock on his nightstand, willing the minutes to go by faster.  He still had 45 minutes to kill before it was time to transform and meet up with Ladybug for patrol.  He’d already breezed through his physics and math assignments, read a chapter ahead in his history textbook, and caught up on the latest posts on the Ladyblog.  He had been in the process of pacing the length of the large wall of windows in his room for the thirteenth time, when Plagg had finally gotten fed up and snapped at him to stop making him anxious.

But Adrien couldn’t help but feel restless.  Because he’d decided that tonight was the night that he stopped pursuing Ladybug.  He was going to tell her that he’d found someone- he debated if he should tell her it was Marinette, since Ladybug didn’t approve of sharing information that could lead to discovering one-another’s true identity.  But he’d tell her that he was seeing someone, and that he wanted to finally move on from chasing her, and he’d ask for her blessing. 

He wasn’t sure why her approval meant so much to him, but he wished so badly he could introduce Marinette to Ladybug, to show his partner that he’d found someone kind and brave and talented and good.  Just like Ladybug, he realized with a warm smile. 

His mind drifted back to that afternoon in the hallway.  What had been going through her mind that was making her so nervous, that she felt she couldn’t tell him about?  He’d thought that things were going well between them. Marinette’s timid tendencies around him were finally subsiding, especially after his superhero identity had been revealed to her. He thought they had crossed some sort of threshold into another level of their relationship, one of honesty and trust.

It wasn’t so much that he thought his girlfriend was hiding something from him- _Marinette isn’t the type,_ he thought fondly- but he did wish she would let him in, so he could help her, even just as moral support, with whatever she was going through.

He rolled onto his back and pulled his phone out of his pocket, pulling up his messaging app and firing off a text to Marinette.

_I’m proud of you, and no matter what, I’m here for you.  Please trust me and know that I have your back in any fight. –A_

He watched his screen and waiting for the “read” notification to pop up, but when it didn’t appear after a couple minutes, his brow furrowed.  He was about to put his phone aside when a notification for the Ladyblog pinged and popped up on his screen.  Ladybug had been spotted casually defying gravity as she swung and spun among the beams of the Eiffel Tower.  Adrien grinned with pride as he quickly flicked through the series of photos on the post, before tossing his phone aside and pulling himself up off the bed.

“Plagg, we’re heading out a little early.  Claws out!”

* * *

 

It was rare that Chat Noir opted to run and leap and rely on his agility and strength alone to propel him through the city, rather than to use his staff.  But tonight he was full of pent-up energy, and the thought of using the long metal pole to take off some of the impatient burn in his muscles made him even antsier.  He leapt again, easily clearing the gap between rooftops and landing with a soft thud on a nearby chimney, the toe pads on his boots muffling his footfalls. 

It was still sunset, and the sun’s red glow drenched the city in an atmosphere that promised excitement and change.  Chat raised his gaze to the Eiffel Tower ahead of him, already lit up for the evening and looking as if on fire in the sun’s light.  The sight made him run faster.  He felt like he was burning too.  He landed another jump, and shock making the muscles in his legs burn.  It felt amazing, and he dashed forward into another leap, his leather tail making a snapping noise as it whipped into an arc behind him. 

He was finally close enough to see her silhouette, perched at the top of the tower, face tipped skyward.  He followed her gaze, catching the sight of the first stars flickering into view in the dusky sky.  He smiled and thought back to Marinette’s comment in class- it seemed Ladybug had the same idea for the ideal spot to watch the meteor shower.  He landed at the edge of the open area surrounding the base of the tower, took a moment to stretch and catch his breath, before beginning his climb up the tower.  

It took longer, without the use of his staff; even with its help, he was always scrambling to catch up to Ladybug and her yo-yo.  Tonight, though, he didn’t feel rushed.  The desire for speed was there, but more to expel his nervous energy than anything else.  How would she react?  After so long of enduring his come-ons and flirtations, how would she respond to his surrender?  No, he shook himself of the though, not a surrender.  He wasn’t giving anything up.  He was _gaining_ \- gaining Marinette, gaining a chance at a healthy, loving, blessedly normal relationship with an amazing girl. 

He pulled himself up onto the upper deck, and quietly made his way over to where his partner sat, trying not to break the feeling of serenity she’d built in the area. 

“Hey, kitty,” she greeted him softly, not pulling her gaze away from the stars.  He settled down next to her, dangling his legs over the edge and swinging them, childlike, to nudge her foot with his. 

“Evening, my lady,” he responded, tilting his head back to take in the darkening sky. “Leave it to you to find the best seat in the house.”

“I don’t want to patrol tonight,” Ladybug admitted.  “The city can behave itself for one night.  I don’t want to miss this.”

Chat Noir hummed in agreement, wondering how she could sound so excited yet so calm.  Between the meteor shower and the talk he had planned to have with her, he could feel himself practically vibrating.  Of course, his partner didn’t take long to notice.

“And here I thought bugs were the ones who were supposed to buzz, not cats,” she giggled.

“Sorry,” he chuckled sheepishly.  “I’m just nervous.”

“About what, chaton?”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Let’s hear it then.”

Chat swallowed thickly, his legs swinging more wildly.  Ladybug reached out and put a firm hand on his knee, an attempt to still him.  He tucked his legs up under himself in response, but the new position just made him feel like bouncing, so he finally settled on sitting cross-legged like a schoolchild. 

Ladybug shot him a worrisome glance, which morphed into a small, encouraging smile.  “Just tell me, kitty.  I’m here for you, no matter what.  Okay?”

Chat swallowed again and nodded, the familiarity of her words setting off an odd feeling in his mind, one he couldn’t quite name.  He pushed it down for later and focused on forming his next words correctly. 

“I’m seeing someone,” he began, hating how his voice quivered.  He swallowed and tried again.  “I’m seeing this girl- she’s one of my best friends, and she’s amazing, and I’m so happy.  She makes me feel… _lucky_.”  Chat pushed the flow of words out in one quick burst before stopping to take in a shaky breath.  He glanced over at his partner, who stared at him with eyes blown wide and a surprised smile on her lips. He licked his lips, dry from the wind, and continued, willing his heart to calm down.  His gaze turned back toward the sky, now dotted with stars and fading to a dusky indigo. 

“You know her.  I won’t say who it is, because it might reveal who I am but… you like her.  She kind of reminds me of you, sometimes.  She’s got such a good heart, and she can be shy sometimes, but she’s so strong and brave, especially when it comes to helping other people.  And she’s super creative and talented- it’s ironic, isn’t it?  That someone like me, whose powers cause destruction, would fall for someone like her, who creates such amazing things?” 

Chat Noir felt like he was rambling, but found that once he started, he couldn’t stop.  It felt so good to tell his partner, one of the most important girls in his life, about Marinette, who might just hold the top spot.  His nerves dissipated, giving way to adoration and confidence that this was right.  Telling Ladybug, giving up on his fruitless crush to be with Marinette, was right. 

“She’s good for me.  She makes me want to be braver, in my civilian life.  I’m constantly blown away by how kind she is, and it makes me want to be that type of person too.  And-”

“Chat.  As adorable as this is, why are you telling me all this?”  Ladybug had turned to face him head on, and her facial expression confused Chat Noir.  Her eyes gleamed as if she were going to cry, but her lips quirked as if trying to suppress a laugh. Chat didn’t know how to interpret it, and it made him uneasy again.  His balloon of warm, fuzzy feelings deflated, and he pulled his lower lip between his teeth, suddenly hesitant again.

“I… I wanted your blessing.  And for you to know that… I know you and I will never be more than… this.  Partners.  But that’s okay!  _I’m_ okay.  Because I have Mar- because I have _her._ ” 

Ladybug let out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and she broke into a wide grin.  Chat had to look away- it was smiles like that that made him question giving up on her.

“Of course you have my blessing, chaton!  She sounds wonderful, and I’m so happy for you.  I’ll have to thank her, for freeing me of your cheesy pick-up lines and bad puns.”

“Oh, the puns aren’t going anywhere, my lady,” Chat assured her with a sigh of relief, slipping easily back into their usual banter.  “Why, I’d hardly be me without them!”

“I hope you don’t subject your girlfriend to your awful sense of humor.  If she’s as good as you say, she’s done nothing to deserve this torture.”

“Purr-lease, you would miss it if I ever stopped. Admit it, you love it.”

“I’ll never, and you’re lucky I put up with you.”

“You’re right, as paw-lways. What would I do without you, my lady?”

“Probably still be cluelessly playing basketball while your kwami was… missing…” Her words trailed off with a thin hiss and her face paled as she realized her mistake. 

Slowly, she lifted her gaze to meet his, and suddenly the night air felt suffocating warm, yet bone-chillingly cold. Chat Noir’s suit felt too constricting, yet not enough to stop him from feeling like every atom of his body was drifting off in different directions, a meteor shower all its own.  Out of the corner of his peripheral vision, the first shooting star skirted across the sky, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from his partner’s blue ones- his _girlfriend’s_ blue ones.

He drew in a rattling breath, and slowly shifted up onto his knees, crawling closer, hand outstretched toward her cheek, toward the mask that he couldn’t believe had fooled him for so long.  “Marinette…”

And with that, she was on her feet, yo-yo out and ready to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost... there...  
> Happy 2017, everyone! Sorry again for the long wait! Baeta's been super busy and wasn't able to edit this chapter, so sorry for any errors! Hope you all enjoyed your holidays, but now it's back to the real world!  
> We just have one more chapter to go. :< In all honesty, despite this project taking longer than originally expected, I'm kind of proud for seeing it through to the end. I half expected to lose inspiration halfway through, but the comments and messages from you guys keep me going!  
> Speaking of which, my next writing project will be an original story! I'll probably be creating a Wattpad account for it, so keep an eye out on my Tumblr for when it goes up. The first couple chapters are done, but I want to get a few more under my belt before I start publishing so I can release them to you guys in a more timely fashion.  
> Anyways, I've rambled long enough. Happy New Year, and I hope you'll stick around for the next and final chapter. Thank you for being awesome. <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrecy is no longer an option. Adrien demands the truth that he deserves, and Marinette has to trust that her luck will pull them both through.

“Marinette!”

The sound of Chat Noir’s wrecked cry bounced off the windows and walls of nearby buildings.  Ladybug squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on other things; the whistle of the wind as it whipped past her ears, the dull ache of impact in her hips and knees as she landed leap after leap across the rooftops, the sick feeling creeping up her throat, the hot tears on her cheeks.

Once again, she found herself wondering why she was running from him.  Hadn’t he proven himself enough by now?  Hadn’t he shown her his loyalty time and time again, both with and without his mask?  There was no reason to run, she thought as she launched herself off another chimney. 

Behind her, she could hear the metallic clang of Chat’s staff as it made impact with the ground, vaulting him after her.  “Marinette, _stop!_ ”

Suddenly, without a single beep of warning, her transformation dropped, and so did Marinette.  Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in a silent, terrified scream as she plummeted toward the street below.  Marinette reached upwards, toward the furious-looking red kwami that hovered above her, but her hand was instead caught by a leather-clad, clawed grip. 

Chat lowered her down to the sidewalk gently, but only for a moment before his arm slid around her waist and they were airborne. Before she could protest, he vaulted them toward a secluded corner of a nearby rooftop.  “We need to talk about this.  Now.”  His voice was quiet, but hard. 

He let her down again, stepping away to take in the sight of her.  She glanced up, but found it difficult to meet his burning green eyes.  “Are-aren’t you going to de-transform, too?” she inquired softly. 

“No,” he replied.  “I’m staying just like this.  Because as much as Adrien would have wanted to know that his girlfriend was Ladybug, Chat Noir deserves to know the identity of his partner first.”  He didn’t raise his voice, didn’t sound angry, but Marinette could tell he wasn’t pleased. 

Tikki swooped over to them, and surprised Marinette by settling onto Chat’s shoulder.  If the action startled him as well, he didn’t let it show.  He just stood there, staring expectantly at her. 

“Why does it feel like you’re ganging up on me?” Marinette muttered, still not meeting her boyfriend’s insistent gaze. 

“Nobody’s ganging up on you, Marinette, but it’s time.  You’ve avoided this long enough, don’t you think?”  Tikki responded evenly.  “I’ve supported you in your decision to keep your civilian life separate, but Ladybug and Chat Noir’s partnership is a balance based on trust.  Chat Noir has made it clear he trusts you.  You need to do the same for him.”

Marinette nodded stiffly, but still didn’t raise her eyes.  She flinched when she heard Chat let out a frustrated, tired sigh. 

“Mari- my Lady,” he said softly, stepping forward into her space again, reaching out and taking her hand.  “You’re one of the bravest people I know.  It’s one of the reasons I love you.  Please, be brave for me now.” 

Marinette let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, used the back of her hand to wipe at her tear-streaked face, and lifted her eyes defiantly to lock gazes with her partner, her mouth set in a hard line.  She was shocked to see him greeting her with a warm, adoring smile.

“There’s my bugaboo,” he murmured fondly. 

Her resolve cracked, her eyes welled with tears again, and she closed the short distance between them to fall into his waiting arms.  She buried her head against his collarbone and let out a shuddering sob.  She felt the low rumble in Chat’s chest as he chuckled, and he reached up to stroke soothingly at her hair. 

“You’re not angry?” Marinette managed to squeak out and she roped her arms around his frame.

After a pause, he shook his head.  “No.  I’m upset you didn’t tell me sooner, but I did tell you to take your time and go at your own pace, so I can’t be angry about that.”    He pulled back a bit to take her face between his hands and scrutinize her properly.  “I’m kind of annoyed at myself though.  How could I not notice my own girlfriend and partner were the same person!  Your disguise isn’t even that good!”

“Hey!”  Marinette laughed and swatted at his arm playfully.  “Yours is no better!”

His grin widened at the sound of her giggle, and he pulled her closer again, pressing their foreheads together.  “Plagg, claws in,” he whispered, letting his eyes slide closed as a wave of dark energy swirled and hissed around him, melting away his black leather armor. 

“Does this mean you two are finally going to get your acts together and stop being such morons?” the black cat kwami whined as he flopped dramatically onto Adrien’s shoulder.  Tikki rolled her eyes at him, but reached over and affectionately tugged one of his whiskers. 

“What say you, my Lady?” Adrien inquired, his thumbs stroking soft circles over her cheeks.  “No more secrets?  Just you and me?”

“Well… I do have one more secret,” she admitted, ducking her head and flushing deeply.

“Tell me.”

“I… I’vehadahugecrushonyoupracticallysincewemet,” she confessed in one long, frantic rush. 

Adrien took a moment to understand what she said and process it before he chortled, lifting her face back up to his with his finger.  “Why, buginette, I thought you knew.  It was the same for me.”  With that, he pressed his lips to hers, sweetly, chastely, slowly.  She felt his lips twist into a Cheshire-like smirk.  “Besides, you totally forgot to take down your pictures of me one time when I came by as Chat Noir.”

His girlfriend’s reply was a playful nip at his lower lip and a whisper against his lips.  “Tikki, spots on.”

* * *

 

Paris’s beloved superheroes were curled together on the chair of the balcony above the Boulangerie Patisserie, legs intertwined and hands pulling at hips and waists and settling between shoulder blades to press ever closer.  Chat Noir had one clawed finger hooked into the neckline of Ladybug’s suit, pulling the stretchy fabric down so he could have better access to nuzzle and kiss her neck.  Ladybug pulled at her boyfriend’s hip again, rolling him over on top of her and turning her head to bury her face in his tousled hair. 

“You won’t be able to see the meteor shower like this,” Chat murmured against the skin of her throat before nipping the spot, leaving another small mark, gentle enough to be gone by morning but his for tonight.  He lifted himself up, not enough to release the heat built up between them, but enough to look down at her properly. 

“Don’t care,” she breathed, rubbing circles into his hip with one hand while the other trailed up his side to settle on his chest.  “This view is better.”

“Who could’ve guessed,” Chat mused, affectionately shaking his head.  “Sweet little Marinette being so bold.  I’m glad I was so purr-sistant on getting to know the real you.”

Marinette simply rolled her eyes and giggled, snaking the hand on his chest up to the back of his neck, pulling him down into another kiss.  She never would’ve guessed there would come a day when she would lose track of how many times she had kissed Adrien Agreste.

A loud beeping suddenly broke the comfortable quiet, and a moment later, Chat’s transformation fell away.

“That’s enough of that,” a nasal voice drawled.  “I’m starving, and you two attempting to eat each other’s faces isn’t going to help.”  Plagg let himself fall dramatically onto Ladybug’s lap, pawing at her knee.  “I know you have something cheesy and delicious for me in that house.  Feed me.”

Ladybug raised a quizzical eyebrow at him, but couldn’t help a small giggle.  “Oh, you poor thing.  C’mon, let’s hunt down a snack.”  She gently scooped up the kwami in her palm, rolling out from under Adrien.  She let her transformation drop as well, and Tikki immediately swooped over to nuzzle Adrien’s cheek before settling in to ride on his shoulder as the group headed down to Marinette’s room through the trap door.

Marinette left the group to sneak down to the kitchen, and returned a few minutes later with leftover treats from the bakery: a plate of cookies, chocolate chip for Tikki and snickerdoodle for Adrien, a strawberry tarte for herself, and a large cheese Danish for Plagg. They sat in a small huddle on the rug, finally able to discuss  akuma, miraculous, and Hawkmoth as a group.  The conversation slowly died as the two kwami fell asleep, and Adrien and Marinette made their way quietly downstairs, with an unconscious Plagg tucked into Adrien’s pocket. 

“It’s a long walk home without superpowers to help.  You’ll be alright getting back?”  Marinette asked as she walked him out front.

“I’ll manage,” her boyfriend replied, proudly holding up a baggie of extra cookies for the road.  “It’s a purr-fect evening for a stroll, after all.  And I’ll have you in my thoughts to keep me company.”

Marinette snorted and pulled him closer by the collar of his shirt.  “Dork,” she giggled against his lips.

“Only for you, my Lady,” he promised, kissing her in return. 

She watched him walk off into the night, and waited until he rounded the corner and out of site before slipping back inside.  She made her way up to her bedroom, put on  pajamas, and finally fell into bed. 

The kwami sluggishly opened one eye at the feeling of Marinette’s head hitting the pillow on which she’d been sleeping.  “So,  it wasn’t as catastrophic as you though, huh?” the ladybug-like creature quipped. 

“Don’t you start punning now, too,” Marinette scolded playfully, stroking Tikki’s head with her fingertip and snuggling deeper under her pink blankets.  “But you’re right.  I think we’re going to be okay.  As Marinette and Adrien and as Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“Told you so,” the kwami agreed with a huge yawn and with that, she rolled over and was fast asleep again within seconds. 

Marinette smiled warmly at the tiny creature, curling against her oversized cat pillow.  With a blissful sigh, she closed her eyes and let herself slip off to sleep with adoring thoughts of her partner drifting through her mind, wondering how she ever got to be so lucky.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the author:  
> "Wow. Exactly one year later and here we are. Thank you, thank you, thank you, a million times for those who read, and left kudos, and commented, and messaged me asking for updates. I never could have kept the motivation to see this project through without your support. Special thanks to those who were with me through the whole run; thank you for sticking around and cheering me on. And of course, all my gratitude to my dearest baeta, who harassed me with snarky comments in the edits of each chapter and procrastinated just as much as I did so I didn't feel as bad.  
> From here, I'll be moving over to Wattpad to release a few original stories I've been working on, so if you're interested please keep an eye on my Tumblr (trash-noir-claws-out) for links to those. Once again, thank you all so much for the love and support. Bisous, mes amours!"

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fanfiction, so I'm a little nervous. This fic is set to be 10 chapters for right now, but we'll see how things go. My Tumblr is trash-noir-claws-out.tumblr.com, where I'll be posting doodles and such to go with this.  
> Thank you so much for reading! xoxo


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